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You don't have to be a thicko', but it really helps nowadays;



Dibble, it's over to you, I want to hear you kicking off in a grand style.

Completely bonkers.

Exams need to be made harder, not easier.

But this should come as no surprise really - just part & parcel of this government's "prizes for all" dogma and its obsession with trying to shoe-horn as many youngsters as possible into university (for many universities read: rebranded colleges of higher education) to take Mickey Mouse courses so that it can boast how much it has "created opportunities" and improved education in Britain.

But anyone with half a brain can see that it's a bogus boast, since constantly lowering standards does the exact opposite, as it reduces everything (from GCSEs to A levels to degrees) down to the simplest, lowest common denominator to the point where they become meaningless - because every fucker and his dog has a hatfull.

It's the educational equivalent of "printing money".

If they carry on like this, they may as well just introduce a scheme whereby all you have to do is submit the tops off 10 Corn Flakes boxes and a 50p postal order and you'll get your 10 Grade "A" GCSEs sent to you by return post.

We're not quite there yet - but it's heading that way rapidly.

- Eric

Ah yes, excellent preparation for real life where we all get umpteen chances to succeed and there's never any pressure to perform 'on the day'.

What worries me most is that while we pander to the absurd notion that elitism is bad and a gold standard damaging, other countries, notably in the East, encourage a competitive ethic and a work ethos that's frightening to behold.

What Thatcher did to the state education sector was bad enough, but what this lot are doing is pretty much rendering our nation second class. We're becoming a country full of people who believe the world owes them a living due to a handful of worthless exams.

The sad thing is that the Oxbridge bias in my own professional arena, has become even worse because they're one of the few institutions that still mean anything in terms of general academic ability. Time was, when they were more prepared to take a punt on anyone with decent 'A' Levels. No longer, so devalued has the examination system become.

Flat_Eric wrote:

>...its obsession with trying to shoe-horn as many youngsters as possible into university (for many universities read: rebranded colleges of higher education) to take Mickey Mouse courses so that it can boast how much it has "created opportunities" and improved education in Britain.

More than likely, but one problem: the sheer cost, both during the courses and the debt after.

Prohibitive to many, and one the factors in the notion that Universities are becoming almost exclusively middle class institutions. Perish the thought that one's little Joshua won't ever get a degree, eh.

I agree with most of what is said in the above posts.

My question when I read most of this:

is how?


Good luck finding the 'Opportunity Agenda' by the way.

The education system, or to be accurate, what purports to be an education system is a total shame! Schools are merely places where youths are corralled for a few hours per day, and any 'educating' that does occur is down to pure luck and serendipity.

Good article here.



- Eric

Interesting article Eric, though I for the life of me cannot understand the Tories preoccupation with grammer schools, as if it's a panacea to all the faults of the present education system. Don't get me wrong, I went to secondary modern and it didn't do me and my compatriots any harm,
(having said that, it was one of the better ones)in fact, seven of our class went on to university.

I think that the exam system really needs to go back to a exam test and that's it, no course-work or any of that gubbins to complement (massage)the grade.

I went on to further education eventually qualifying as an engineer at the local technical college, with a few in the class coming from grammar schools. (they had no desire whatsoever to go to 'uni') Funnily enough, we all achieved the same grades.

Apparently, they are going down the same road insofar as making the exams easier, when we took our exams, we either knew the answers or we didn't. Tough. Nowadays you get a multlple choice for the questions on the same course. Consequently nobody fails, sound familiar.
When I took the exam only nine out of twenty four passed the test, they definitely would not allow that pass rate now.

[quote]The other thing that made me laugh was last week a report on giving kids rewards like I- Pods just for turning up, how does that prepare them for the real world? if you do not turn up for work then you get the sack- not a gift to make you attend...[/quote]

Your analogy doesn't really work. While not agreeing with this 'iPod gift' business, giving them gifts for turning up does prepare them for the real world. Turn up to work and you get a wage. Your wage is your iPod, to make a more correct analogy.

Of course, as adults, we point to the gift of education......but I remember being 13-16 and wouldn't have quite seen it that way!