retrogo Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Unfortunately you can't just blame the education system. Many children are offered extra support in schools for reading, writing and mathematics, mostly all of them turn this offer down. Parents aren't happy for their children to give up any of their 1 hour lunch in order to receive extra support or attend after school. It isn't possible with a 1 hour lesson to cover what needs to be done in the lesson and give them extra support so what else can schools do? Don't forget also that most of the children who have 'readers' and 'scribes' have some kind of special need. Should a child who has a great understanding but can't get that onto paper due to severe dyslexia be pushed away from an exam because he can't write it down? I'm a dyslexic sufferer, and I would say at some point, the children do have to go it alone. Part of over comming the specific learning difficulties is overcomming the block and getting it down on paper. When the wonderful world of work does appear for these young adults, they need to have overcome there issues, as many employers don't have the resources to offer loads of adjustments. I'm very good at using IT as a way of being able to get stuff into a readable format. But I do beleive, as a society, in education, we have become over relient on it as a teaching tool. Not every job will have access to a computer, and may still expect the prospective young employee to have good written skills. controversial comments I know, but the working environment is a harsh place (sorry to the spelling police, I was supporting your corner for a change, but I've not spell or 'grandmar' checked this entry) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrogo Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The liberl/lefty concepts of education are so anit-elitism that they seem to forget that some kids are much brighter than others. Some are born to fail exams and are not smart enough to do anything beyond sweep floors or clean toilets - unfortunate but true. To avoid inflicting the nasty, right-wing idea that we're not all of equal intelligence or potential, the education system has been tragically dumbed-down to make it possible for utter dimwits to leave school with qualifications, while the bright kids are held back and our exam standards have become a joke. The old system of identifying talent early and putting those with potential into faster-stream grammar schools worked well. I'de agree sligtly. All children should have the basic grounding in the three 'R's' and educationalists should be spotting early on the talents that children have. But some of the nasties, dirtiest jobs, are the most important. Just try living without your bins being emptied for a few months. Then you'l think the jobs crutial to a modern society. Someone might not be accademically bright, but be a natural at craft skills such as practical civil engineering. Some companies like Kier have young apprentices of 15 years old, that really take to skilled trades who perhaps arn't the best academics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llamatron Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 :-o Passing exams is all about showing that you understand and can apply material that has been taught, to a certain standard. Are you saying that someone with a disability (e.g. dyslexia or blindness) should be precluded from being able to prove that they are indeed able to apply their knowledge? In the real world if someone cannot read and answer the question themselves, they would not be able to do a job using that type of ability. A better answer would not be for them to get a reader and scribe, but for them to do an alternative qualification that would actually be of use in a real life job. Actually in the cases you have mentioned a vocal exam. Back to academia is not right for everyone again! To me the real problem is the "shame" of not going to university. It should not be anything to be ashamed of! We should not try and ensure everyone is the same. We all have different abilities, some people are never going to be good at maths. Its not a problem to get a bad grade at that if you want to be a writer! We should also place less emphasis on the percentage of students reaching certain grades. That just encourages grade inflation and it doesn't really mean anything. Nobody should be getting 10 A*. Its just not realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnvqsos Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Unfortunately you can't just blame the education system. Many children are offered extra support in schools for reading, writing and mathematics, mostly all of them turn this offer down. Parents aren't happy for their children to give up any of their 1 hour lunch in order to receive extra support or attend after school. It isn't possible with a 1 hour lesson to cover what needs to be done in the lesson and give them extra support so what else can schools do? Don't forget also that most of the children who have 'readers' and 'scribes' have some kind of special need. Should a child who has a great understanding but can't get that onto paper due to severe dyslexia be pushed away from an exam because he can't write it down? It is quite understandable that kids lack the maturity to give up their spare time;however it regrettable that some parents collude in their decisions,yet the same people will blame the school.Moreover this often is perpetuated in later generations,hence the low aspirations prevalent in so many poor communities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I think we should bring back national service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I was pretty shocked to hear that reading standards are so poor in UK. A recent survey of 29000 students of GCSE age found the average reading ability was that expected of pupils 5 years younger. How did they set their expectations? Many students had such limited reading ability that they struggled to read the GCSE exam papers. I fear for where the education system is heading. Students spend so little time in contact with books that they struggle to read even at age 15/16. Really, why, what are they actually doing at school for 11 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 It's not down to schools it's the parents. I am an avid reader, I read to my children when they were little and they have picked up the habit, both loving books and reading. When my son was assessed at 11 he had a reading age well in advance of his years. This included understanding the definition of words and the context in the written piece. It is sad to say some household have no books at all in them If children are not exposed to reading at an early age and regularly it's not something they will enjoy. I used to have a higher than expected reading age, but as I got older I got stupider, at the age of 35 my reading age is 35, I squandered my potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I think the government needs to break the teaching unions and take the education system in hand to bring it up to speed. We used to have the greatest education system in the world till the liberals got hold of it. How is it the unions that have created this problem? They didn't create the national curriculum, or set the exam standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchresearch Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I know of one school whose teachers are refusing to participate in after-school activities and INSET training days and twilights relating to Ofsted standards improvement because of a long running union dispute with the government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spilldig Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I remember one industrialist saying on television that his company advertised for graduates and he said they were virtually illiterate at the interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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