Children won't leave school until 17

Children entering secondary school this year will be the first to stay in school until 17 years old by law. Now, my problems with the education system in Britain not withstanding, I think this is a positive move. I don't think many kids have a clear idea of what they want to do in life at 16 and I think it's been an unnecessary pressure for years (I also think it's a growing pressure in the bigger Cities where life moves a lot faster). It's also a good move because the final year will in some cases involve off site training and diplomas in subjects such as engineering and construction. Which will develop genuine skills for work environments. While the many will tell you that all children deserve the same chance (and I agree) it has to be accepted that some are suited to classroom education and some are suited to practical training, both can set a child on his or her way in life. While we box all children into the same expectations and the same system of progression we have a lot left behind and a lot frustrated at the glass ceiling created by the lesser achievers. It's a similar concept to the old Grammar Schools in purpose but it has less divide.

LINK: BBC.co.uk

Failing to tackle the problem

There was a great article in the Sunday Times this weekend by Chris Woodhead about Ed Balls [Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families] and his plan to save failing schools in Britain. It kinda blows out the whole "Academies are the saviour to all the world's ills" ideal that the government have been promoting over the last few years. It questions how important local government should be to the standard of education and promotes private funding in education. For a while I've been of the opinion that the only way kids can be truly successful in schools is if there are people at the top who genuinely want them to be successful, this is currently not the case, the failures in teaching and behaviour management cause mass disruption in every class and there's no real motivation to get it right. I think it's pretty incredible that for a school to not be considered a failure less than 30% of students need to pass 5 A*-C GCSE exams before the age of 19. Wow. Most 19 year olds will pass a GCSE exam, if you can get them to stick around that long, how can that be considered an achievement? Let's be real here, how many schools are failing?

READ: Failing to tackle the problem- Chris Woodhead