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The chairman of BT has called for GCSEs and A-levels to be replaced by the International Baccalaureate.
Sir Michael Rake joins a growing number of leading businessmen complaining that teenagers are leaving school without basic skills. He told Sky News' Jeff Randall Live the education system should move to a domestic equivalent of the International Baccalaureate in five years' time.
Sir Michael added: “I think A-levels have been devalued. I think there is too much specialisation too early, frankly, and I think things like the International Baccalaureate provide a broader range for people in the stem subjects.”
And he said: “I think it (education) became the subject of political dogma. I think we need to understand we have a problem.
“We have got some of the best schools in the world in the private sector and some of the worst in some aspects of the state sector.
“What we absolutely have to do is make this apolitical and realise it's not going to be fixed in one parliamentary term. To get the literacy and numeracy that we need and the skills that we need it's going to take quite a few years to get this system effective, people working together to do it.”
His comments came after Tesco's chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said employers were left to bear the brunt of “woefully low” school standards. He told grocery industry members yesterday that money pumped into education had produced no improvement.
Sir Terry was on the Government's National Council for Educational Excellence, but left earlier this year.
CBI director-general John Cridland also said that fears over the quality of education were widespread.
But a number of firms are set to join forces with the Government tomorrow for the launch of a tie-up between industry and schools as exam results data from this summer's GCSEs and A-levels is published.
And the Government insisted the quality of education in state secondary schools had never been higher.
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said the Government was working to “lift the burden of administration tasks from teachers” so they can concentrate on teaching and preparing lessons.
Reader views (6)
The International Baccalaureate have international recognition and are seen as superior to GCSEs. Sir Michael Rake is quite right, of course, and there has been much talk in the past about switching, but nothing ever came of it. Keep talking, Sir Michael, somebody might finally take notice.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
Government wants as many students as possible to have top qualifications but IQ distribution is fixed by nature. Exams had to be dumbed down to raise the pass the pass rate. Commerce realizes that even with a A grade in maths a starter may not be competent as example. The IB is set internationally and will be far to hard to have a good pass rate so is the last thing government wants. Government policy is based on never mind the quality feel the width
- Derek Emery, bedworth uk
International Baccalaureate, yes, domestic equivalent of the IB, no, otherwise the politicians will degrade the exam in order to prove how much education has "improved" on their watch, just as the have with GCSEs and A levels.
- Seabee, Pinner UK
Like he knows anything about education.
This business, BT, has stopped its graduate intake programme, the business is in such dire straits due to inept management that they are selling off the loss making international division at a massive loss to shareholders. The bonus culture is so poor that they have stuck with short terms bonus culture rather than try to build a long term future for the business. The most successful part of the business is Openreach which is so stringently regulated that it is tipped to be the only remaining part of BT by 2014.
If the BT people had an education that allowed them to run a business, the company would not be in such poor shape. I am afraid Michael Rake and Ian Livingston have a lot to answer for with the shareholding public and the funds managers.
Michael Rake should be the very last person to preach about education standards, or anything else for that matter, until his business is in what shareholders and the City would recognise by international standards as ‘ good shape’ and producing ‘good dividends’ that are not subsidised by Openreach.
- James, City of London
But if you replace our woefully inadequate education system and dumbed down examinations with the Baccalaureate, what will happen to Labours statistics?
Remember, under Labour it is not about being educated properly, it is about hitting targets.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
he is so right.
- Squiz, Islington
