Government reforms to the curriculum and examination assessment are not in line with good educational practice and the broader skills and competences that employers’ organizations such as the CBI have identified as a desirable outcome of the education system (We need an alternative to universities, August 17). Added to this list is the fragmentation of the school system, an obsession with academies and high schools, school performance indicators set to promote progression to a limited number of universities and Ebacc, which has undermined the study of art, design and other creative activities. subjects in schools.
Despite the media’s obsession with A-levels, thousands of students study for BTecs each year and the majority who enter university now do so with a professional qualification. Many study for vocational and vocational and technical tertiary education qualifications, include internships and projects with employers as well as degree apprenticeships. A third of students enter university when they are over 21, having spent time in the workplace, while others combine study, part-time work and family responsibilities. These students are more debt-averse and the real national scandal is that their numbers and opportunities are dwindling due to high tuition fees in England.
The idea that there are academic and vocational pathways and that students have to choose between the two at 18 is as hopelessly outdated as the government’s approach to education and skills. This is a trap education commentators as well as the Labor Party must avoid.
Pam Tatlow
richmond, Surry
We used to have an alternative to universities. They were called polytechnics. Unfortunately, they fell victim to the snobbery underlying the English attachment to an outdated model of education and were forced to ape universities while being derided as second-rate, awarding Mickey Mouse degrees.
This model is harnessed to an ill-defined language reflecting a presumptuous set of values. It would help, for example, if one could explain how the ‘top’ universities are better than their lesser namesakes, how Oxbridge is better than Wolverhampton, for example, apart from the fact that they get the first choice of dropouts . It would also help if we were clear about some of the terms we use. What do we mean by ‘academic’, ‘professional’ and ‘technical’? All the academics I met had a strong vocation and used technology. Why insist on such distinctions in the examination system?
The GCE system (or more precisely its predecessor the School Certificate) was designed to simplify and standardize university admission procedures at the turn of the 20th century. Its coming to dominate the entire secondary curriculum has done little to benefit either the students or the national economy. It is simply outdated and unsuitable for its supposed purpose.
Fiona Millar is on hand. It will take a huge culture shift to move us towards an education system that excites and motivates learners. It will take even greater change to move to a system that provides lifelong education and training to all, rather than one that makes ill-informed and damaging assumptions about abilities and abilities so early on.
Roy Boffy
Old Senior Continuing Education Advisor, Dudley LEA
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