To educate or not...

First a question: what should the Secretary of State for Education not do when discussing potential Government policy? Answer: Sound like an elitist old fart reminiscing for the old days where a good education was too often a privilege reserved for the few. I do, of course, refer to Michael Gove's incredibly stupid idea to call his proposed reform of the GSCE system as bringing back O-levels.

I have some sympathy for him because my personal opinion is that GCSEs are no longer a reliable benchmark for assessing young people. The problems are very evident when students reach university and/or are being recruited by business. The common complaints are that it is increasingly difficult to differentiate between candidates (they all have As and Bs for example), too often basic skills or knowledge is lacking and there is a real disconnect between what pupils learn and what will help them later on in life such as when in work. I also find it incredibly naive that people think pupils should not be streamed according to ability with movement between the streams able to happen at nearly any point. How in the world is a talented pupil meant to get good grades in a class of 30 when the teacher has to teach at the pace dictated by the slowest? By the same token, if that slow pupil makes fantastic progress in a year, they should be moved upwards to the faster stream. Also of critical importance, those of a lower stream should not be made to feel like second class citizens.

The fact that GCSEs and education as a whole is in a woeful state is very much a shared responsibility.The teaching profession as a whole at fault for dumbing down educational standards, the exam boards have competed in a race to the bottom, the parents of pupils who do not show a positive interest in their education and the politicians for tinkering with the system and letting ideology override good sense. This decline has been in progress for decades and meanwhile the statistics themselves have just become more worrying and downright shocking.

Here is a little snippet for the GSCE results for 2011:

Results by school type, 2011

Click heading to sort - Download this data

Type of school	Grade A*	Grade A	Grade B	Grade C	Grade D	Grade E
SOURCE: JCQ
Comprehensive	5.3	18.8	40.4	66.9	83.3	91.9
Academy	8.6	25.4	47.9	72.2	86.5	93.5
Secondary Modern	2.2	10.8	29.4	57.7	78.1	89.4
FE/6th Form College	2.3	7.3	18	55.5	83.4	92.6
Maintained Selective	22.4	55.3	82.2	95	98.5	99.4
Independent	24.1	51.7	75.3	90.4	96.4	98.5

The lesson from this table is obvious and very depressing. If you want your children to do well, you must find one of the few comprehensives gaining the higher grades or send your kids to private school. When politicians talk about choice in education, what they really mean is that the system has failed and they are trying to present an illusionary solution to the ordinary parent. The answer, as it always has been, is to drive up standards at the lower middle to bottom of the education system through increased quality. Politicians should stop obsessing about academies and private schools and simply try to deliver as close as possible a guarantee that no matter how poor or rich the pupil, they will get the chance to get fair grades in core subjects. Above all, the system must be credible and must be able to honestly state that for some pupils academia is not for them, but then provide them with alternatives that they can excel at. A good plumber or electrician can earn more than a university lecturer or office manager, they do not need a degree to do so and this diversity of options needs to be acknowledged and encouraged. The most stupid goal I have ever heard out of government is for 50% of the UK to get degrees. It is inappropriate and counter-productive and any politician that champions this goal is forcing too many people towards academia where they do not belong or indeed, even want to go. It is already happening that businesses are not respecting the degree results thus devaluing it and so more of this is not the answer.

Gove's big mistake was not only to use the word 'O-levels' but also his inability to articulate a vision where the vast majority of pupils can be taught to a common and good standard (English, Maths, History and basic Science for example) and can then choose a credible path to develop their preferred skills further with there being no taboo or barrier to doing so. In short, Gove and the education establishment as a whole need to bring the bottom and middle up to a standard that is taken for granted by independent schools and then allow pupils to choose to develop through a route appropriate to them whether it be through academia or vocational. Anything else is just pointless, political deception, ideologically driven or quite simply a pile of drivel!