If I were a foreigner, I would find it hilarious that a school examiners offered seminars to teachers where they could learn exam questions. Unfortunately, I was born in Britain and happen to think that a corruption free education system is a central requirement of a successful economy.
How did things get so bad? For at least 20 years, we have poured ever increasing amounts of cash into the state education system. Despite this massive expenditure, deteriorating education standards are evident everywhere except in the exam results. Now we have a hint why exam scores increased as children left school barely literate and numerate; teachers were spoon feeding exam answers.
This scandal will follow a predictable course. Over the next few days, there will be a clamour for action. Politicians will demand action to "restore faith in Britain's exam system". A small number of examiners will be fired, and perhaps, the scandal might claim the license of an exam board. Within a few weeks, the scandal will subside, and educational standards will continue to slide. Next year, there will be another crop of stellar exam results and everyone will know that our children will leave school as functional idiots.
Britain's education system is a disgrace; teachers pretend to teach and kids pretend to pass exams. What makes the system so appalling is that everyone knows this and allows it to continue.
6 comments:
I'm afraid teaching has become a sink profession (if you can call it that at all), the last resort for people who are unable to make it in the more demanding professions. I know 3 secondary school teachers, one a head of department, and by their own admission they aren't exactly brains of Britain. You have to be pretty dim these days not to get a degree and PGCE from some 3rd rate ex-polytechnic, and thus not be able to get into teaching.
Add in 40-50 years of 'progressive' control of the education system, and bingo - a system that not only is incapable of producing well educated and rounded students, but actively works to make sure that doesn't happen.
If I had kids I would sell my body organs rather than let the State educate them.
This makes me want to cry. The money has been spent, the buildings and facilities are there, the hunger for education is widespread. Why should it be necessary to avoid the entire system?
I didn't go to Jim's extreme, but our children, like many immigrants children, were returned to their country of origin to go to proper schools; proper state schools, where everyone learned lots of useful stuff.
This is a complete joke and makes me feel sick!
Feeding children with the answers may help pas the exams but in the real world they may struggle!
This crap story tells us all we need to know about progressive britain.
Agree its bad obviously, but its not news, we've known it for years.
Its another example of how increasing spending dramatically does not automatically produce results. As many idiots like Krugman, Brown, Balls etc suggest it does.
We'd be better off cutting school funding, get rid of all the fancy stuff and just get the basics right first.
But as I commented else where, one thing that amazes me is that whereas no one takes the governments education or crime figures seriously.
Most media and bloggers are only too happy to post graphs of GDP figures, which are just as fake.
The system wants the children to pass tests, not to be educated. Teachers are only doing what the parents want: have marks.
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