If half a million parents and guardians have submitted appeals regarding dissatisfaction with Little Johnny’s school place then how much is spent responding to them? The culture of choice is really an excuse to employ more civil servants – how very convenient for them. Nothing wrong with choice but how about cutting costs first. And [...]
We at EducationState think that it is very, very sad that, according to the BBC, “Children as young as seven are to be offered careers guidance under a government scheme in England.” Is this what children really need or will remember? Psychologists tell us that our automatic, non-conscious behaviour starts early on in life but [...]
EducationState have little time for education inspectors. And why would we? They create unnecessary amounts of stress and bureaucracy. They waste time, money and other resources. And they are used an instrument of fear and control by Government. It has dawned on us, moreover, that they bear many similarities to some rather unpleasant characters who [...]
“Blue Chip companies refuse interviews on GCSE results” writes Victoria Bell in the Daily Telegraph. Apparently, top firms like KPMG, Deloitte and PWC won’t interview anyone without top grades from GCSE onwards. It seems that if for whatever reason you underachieve you have no chance of being a beancounter or consultant. Seems more than a [...]
Recent headlines have highlighted how education research findings must be treated with a little suspicion. Contrast the findings of the government-funded UK Commission for Employment and Skills (Ukces) review into further and higher education, which calls for yet more league tables – this time in FE – with the Cambridge Primary Review that calls for [...]
We see that the “Tories back ‘Teach First’ scheme”. It seems sensible to encourage ‘high-flying’ graduates to join the teaching profession so that they can pass on their skills and experience. However, we would argue that this scheme is not the answer to teacher recruitment and retention. Improved working conditions especially eradicating all paperwork and [...]
“Truancy rate reaches record level” declares the BBC education website. We are told that, “The truancy statistics for the first two terms of the last school year show 1.03% of school sessions were missed without permission, up from 0.97%” and “show the rate of unauthorised absences as running higher than any annual figure since 1994, [...]
“Science adviser warns of fee rise”, writes someone at the Beeb. We don’t think so. At EducationState we see this very differently. The Government to appease HE are appointing ‘advisors’ to make such statements so that HE staff can maintain their present living standards while pretending that to retain ‘our’ competitiveness in science we need [...]
That “Minister rejects plan to start lessons at six” is unsurprising given how such people so stubbornly refuse to loosen their grip on the fates of the millions of teachers and students in their power. This is yet another reason, in our opinion, why control of education needs to be removed from the clutches of [...]
“Tabloids duped by celebrity hoaxes” is a story that has dominated the UK press today. “Chris Atkins and his team put in hoax calls to some newsrooms, including that one girl band singer was a physics wizard, only to see the details printed — unchecked — in the press the next day.” we are told. [...]
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