We have a Tory government that appoints ministers that know nothing about their departments but are ready to confront and divide those who work in them. Each new minister has to make their mark in order to appease the hard line Tory supporters who by and large live in the world of the colonial past.
I can only talk about Education, and that with a limited knowledge, but is does seem that each time there is a chance of minister, there is a major change in the system. It is no wonder that recruitment is failing and that so many are choosing to leave their profession in order to seek new and better opportunities.
I remember the catastrophic days of Keith Joseph and Kenneth Baker, the latter who introduce Baker days, for in service training. Of course they took away a day's holiday in order to make them happen and as a result, most of those days were met with resentment and had no real value at all.
There is of course plenty of room for improvement is the educational system, but so many babies have been thrown out with the bathwater. There was a time when children had access to a wide variety of courses that were suitable for them. I remember that we offered woodwork, metal work, boat building, drama, music, arts well as the normal academic courses.
Academia is not for everyone and yet the government believe, in their infinite wisdom, that it is, and so children are forced along a route that ignores the needs of this with practical abilities and cranes them into a system that is inappropriate. Practical work is all but gone in many schools, partly because the curriculum is overcrowded, bu also because it is expensive and it is hard to attract people to teach those subjects. More students than ever are driven into university courses that have little real value and land the students with huge debts, from which private companies make profits. There was a time when around twenty percent of students went to university because courses were demanding and were a route into professions.
The system is in dire need of many changes. I maintain that schools should, as they were, give students choices and opportunities that match their abilities and skills. The academic courses should be available to those that are suited. Perhaps subject barriers could be lowered and the weekly program made more relevant, Of course literacy and numeracy should be focussed on and perhaps information technology should be given a high profile, but maybe citizenship and life skills in general should be emphasised.
I am no longer teaching, but I remember most of my career being both rewarding and enjoyable. Mostly students were happy and were not assessed at every turn, Some were very successful in academia but many went on to become successful in other ways.
So here we are again with a system unfit for purpose and a bunch of sycophants being urged into support for a division between Grammar Schools and the rest. The idea being that some deserve privilege whilst others do not. My grandchildren go to a private school and I find it hard to accept that they have such a wonderful experience of school that so many do not have. Let us get rid of the noxious political dogma and produce a working system that does not divide. I doubt if that will happen whatever government is in power, but under the conservatives there is no hope at all.
I can only talk about Education, and that with a limited knowledge, but is does seem that each time there is a chance of minister, there is a major change in the system. It is no wonder that recruitment is failing and that so many are choosing to leave their profession in order to seek new and better opportunities.
I remember the catastrophic days of Keith Joseph and Kenneth Baker, the latter who introduce Baker days, for in service training. Of course they took away a day's holiday in order to make them happen and as a result, most of those days were met with resentment and had no real value at all.
There is of course plenty of room for improvement is the educational system, but so many babies have been thrown out with the bathwater. There was a time when children had access to a wide variety of courses that were suitable for them. I remember that we offered woodwork, metal work, boat building, drama, music, arts well as the normal academic courses.
Academia is not for everyone and yet the government believe, in their infinite wisdom, that it is, and so children are forced along a route that ignores the needs of this with practical abilities and cranes them into a system that is inappropriate. Practical work is all but gone in many schools, partly because the curriculum is overcrowded, bu also because it is expensive and it is hard to attract people to teach those subjects. More students than ever are driven into university courses that have little real value and land the students with huge debts, from which private companies make profits. There was a time when around twenty percent of students went to university because courses were demanding and were a route into professions.
The system is in dire need of many changes. I maintain that schools should, as they were, give students choices and opportunities that match their abilities and skills. The academic courses should be available to those that are suited. Perhaps subject barriers could be lowered and the weekly program made more relevant, Of course literacy and numeracy should be focussed on and perhaps information technology should be given a high profile, but maybe citizenship and life skills in general should be emphasised.
I am no longer teaching, but I remember most of my career being both rewarding and enjoyable. Mostly students were happy and were not assessed at every turn, Some were very successful in academia but many went on to become successful in other ways.
So here we are again with a system unfit for purpose and a bunch of sycophants being urged into support for a division between Grammar Schools and the rest. The idea being that some deserve privilege whilst others do not. My grandchildren go to a private school and I find it hard to accept that they have such a wonderful experience of school that so many do not have. Let us get rid of the noxious political dogma and produce a working system that does not divide. I doubt if that will happen whatever government is in power, but under the conservatives there is no hope at all.
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