Tonight:
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The Government's over-emphasis on school tests may diminish children's chances of a joyful childhood, according to Mick Waters, one of the architects of the National Curriculum.
The interesting thing about his remarks, in an interview, is not just that they are true but that they were made after he left government employment. Mr Waters resigned from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority this summer after four years overseeing the National Curriculum. A pity that he did not make his objections to school tests public then.
Most teachers undoubtedly agree with Mr Waters that “children should go places, make things, build things, sing, play, look closely at their world” rather than preparing for Sats tests. His warning of “the danger that children become a currency' that can bring us scores'” rings true, given the importance that parents, school heads and ministers attach to school league tables. But it is also worth remembering why it was that they were introduced in the first place: parents previously had no real information on which to assess schools.
Yet the limitations of repeated testing are now apparent. As teaching unions have emphasised, children are now taught to the test, that is, coached to pass exams, which is something rather different from being educated. A narrow emphasis on SATS tests has been at the expense of the broad education that Mr Waters describes. The Government has reduced the numbers of tests, but they still hang heavy over 11 year-olds and some 14 year-olds.
Indeed he could have gone further: exams and coursework dominate the school lives of secondary school pupils, too. Some independent schools allow pupils to bypass GCSEs in favour of taking AS-levels early but for most children, the sequence of GCSEs, followed by AS levels followed by A-levels or diplomas is a very hard grind. We risk losing the point of education, which is to allow children to flourish and to enjoy learning for its own sake, as well as to acquire the necessary skills to equip them for work and further studies. The challenge now is to find a way to monitor schools' performance without league tables becoming an end in themselves.
Young and jobless
One of the features of this recession is that it has fallen particularly hard on the young. The jobless rate for those under 25 is almost one in five, according to figures out today. This is not because of fecklessness, simply that employers are unable to take on inexperienced staff. Those leaving school with no or few qualifications are twice as likely to sign on the dole as those with them.
In the circumstances, it is remarkable, as our report today makes clear, how resourceful young people can be. Many are taking low-paid jobs rather than be out of work; some, who can afford it, are working for free to gain experience. There has been unprecedented demand for university places. Certainly, internships — temporary work placements for little or no pay — are often the preserve of the well-connected but the instinct to seek work experience is right. The Government is providing additional training for young people. But as Iain Duncan Smith points out in his new report for the Tories on work and benefits, we also need to focus on ways of ensuring that young people who do find work, especially for low pay, do not become worse off by losing benefits. A generation lost to work now may never recover.
Bankers in ashes
Our Lord took a dim view of the moneychangers in the Temple and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is similarly severe on bankers who have shown no repentance for their misdeeds.
How could they repent? A barefoot pilgrimage from Threadneedle Street to St Paul's might be one option, or else sackcloth and ashes could replace pinstripes. It might do the bankers little good but it could cheer the rest of us up.
