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Feb. 13th, 2008 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnny9fingersOkay....
First of all I have to confess (as if anyone didn't already know) that I'm a bit of a pinko. Also my chums, many of whom are 'Posh' in most senses of the word, are a pretty liberal bunch (though many vote Conservative). Many of my chums send their kids to state schools, objecting as they do to the cultural apartheit that exists between the state and private education sectors. My younger brother teaches in a state school. I should be all in favour of state education, but I'm not.
My brother mentioned that he had been shocked by the ignorance of a class of fourteen year olds he had to take. Though a science teacher, he was filling in and teaching geography: and provided the class with a map of Europe with no Country names on; and asked them to identify various countries. When hardly anyone knew any of the countries in Europe, he asked them to identify England on the map. Out of a class of thirty some four managed this intellectually demanding task. Incredulous, because he thought they were 'taking the piss' he mocked the whole class, only to find that they simply didn't know: evidently they all turned the telly over before the weather came on, or never watched the news at all.
But as he said over lunch the day after the mother's 70th birthday dinner (which he and I cooked) last weekend: 'They all know exactly how every single mobile phone on the market works.'
What more do they need, after all.
Now the Brother teaches 'oop North' (the Midlands, actually) and things may be different there, but I doubt it. In fact he teaches in a school in a county that is the most 'English' county of all: there were no 'foreigners' in the class, nor any second generation immigrants: but that's Derbyshire for you.
What have we allowed society to become? What has happened to England that we can tolerate this.
Really, chain the little blighters to their desks, only releasing them for a compulsory daily six mile hike. Ban telly. Higher taxes and more spending on Education: if absolutely necessary tax the rich. I know that sounds like heresy, but standards matter: and sometimes the adherence to them costs money out of your pockets, you selfish fucking cunts.
No wonder some parents live on baked beans so they can send their children to reasonable schools full of other children who are prepared to learn.
First of all I have to confess (as if anyone didn't already know) that I'm a bit of a pinko. Also my chums, many of whom are 'Posh' in most senses of the word, are a pretty liberal bunch (though many vote Conservative). Many of my chums send their kids to state schools, objecting as they do to the cultural apartheit that exists between the state and private education sectors. My younger brother teaches in a state school. I should be all in favour of state education, but I'm not.
My brother mentioned that he had been shocked by the ignorance of a class of fourteen year olds he had to take. Though a science teacher, he was filling in and teaching geography: and provided the class with a map of Europe with no Country names on; and asked them to identify various countries. When hardly anyone knew any of the countries in Europe, he asked them to identify England on the map. Out of a class of thirty some four managed this intellectually demanding task. Incredulous, because he thought they were 'taking the piss' he mocked the whole class, only to find that they simply didn't know: evidently they all turned the telly over before the weather came on, or never watched the news at all.
But as he said over lunch the day after the mother's 70th birthday dinner (which he and I cooked) last weekend: 'They all know exactly how every single mobile phone on the market works.'
What more do they need, after all.
Now the Brother teaches 'oop North' (the Midlands, actually) and things may be different there, but I doubt it. In fact he teaches in a school in a county that is the most 'English' county of all: there were no 'foreigners' in the class, nor any second generation immigrants: but that's Derbyshire for you.
What have we allowed society to become? What has happened to England that we can tolerate this.
Really, chain the little blighters to their desks, only releasing them for a compulsory daily six mile hike. Ban telly. Higher taxes and more spending on Education: if absolutely necessary tax the rich. I know that sounds like heresy, but standards matter: and sometimes the adherence to them costs money out of your pockets, you selfish fucking cunts.
No wonder some parents live on baked beans so they can send their children to reasonable schools full of other children who are prepared to learn.
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-13 11:57 pm (UTC)Employers have been complaining at the educational standards of school-leavers. Folk know something is wrong, but they aren't prepared to raise taxes to deal with it, which is what they need to do.
Anglo-Saxon cultures tend to be polarised, educationally speaking. Private education tends to be very expensive and very good. State education is perfunctory.
If you come from a 'clever' home, a state education can be an advantage: all you have to do is better than the willful ignoramuses around you. There is a weighting system run by Oxbridge to favour folk from the state sector: so middle-class kids from academically inclined families (who usually can afford private tuition to supplement the state education) can obtain advantages in the Oxbridge selection procedures. And still almost half Oxbridge places are taken up by private school pupils.
A pair of Oxford Dons, one of whom I was in school with, have sent their children to the local private school as day-pupils, despite the costs (academics don't make that much money), because they value their kids' education so highly, and despair of the state system. Four times £17K ($34K) a year would take a dent out of anyones' savings.