WHO
SHOULD DECIDE ON HOW AND WHAT OUR CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT?
ANDREW
SMITH
A manifesto from the Confederation of British Industry
(CBI) was published today Monday, 19 November 2012 details of which are here:
The manifesto outlines ideas for a radical re-shaping of
the current education curriculum in order to produce better more rounded
students and to ensure that those at the top of the system and those at the
bottom are given every opportunity to make the most of their talents and skills
to ensure they have the best start to their adult life.
The Director General of the CBI, John Cridland, says that
education today has become a conveyor belt of exam results and this does little
for the young adults when they enter the world of the jobs market and that
business leaders are worried that Britain is falling behind the rest of the
world in the race to rebuild the economy and make Britain economical strong
once again on the world stage.
Reading the articles from the Guardian and the BBC
reveals some good ideas to move the education system onto another level but as
with any manifesto it is not without its flaws.
Mr Cridland mentions producing young adults who were
rounded and grounded but does not go beyond this to state what the CBI’s vision
of a rounded and grounded person is. The manifesto suggest moving the goal
posts for students with regards to taking exams and choosing subjects, when the
leaving age is raised from 16 to 18 in 2015 with the emphasis on GCSE at age
18. But if this is done when will students take their A levels and what of the
knock-on effect for universities? Would universities have a very small intake
of students for two years whilst the school system re-organised itself or would
universities have to lower their entrance requirements to ensure a steady flow
of students?
The manifesto appears to concentrate on achieving good
English and maths results which is a good thing but is this to be achieved at
the expense of other subjects? And the manifesto appears to call for more
emphasis to be put on life skills for students to enable them to be better
prepared for life and work after school. Again no detail is given on what the
CBI thinks is life skills but the danger here is that if some students don’t
master these life skills at an early age they may very well be put off for life
from mastering them and feel outcast from society because they have been taught
that they don’t have the necessary skills to survive in society.
And once again how the universities would cope with an
influx of students who have qualifications in various life skills but not many
in academic subjects, would cope is brought into question. Will the
universities need to change their entrance requirements to accommodate a new
generation of students with different qualifications?
But the biggest question for me is just who will benefit
from a generation of students who have excellent maths and English and have all
the necessary skills for life? A quote from John Cridland on the BBC article
reveals much:
"Qualifications
are important, but we also need people who have self-discipline and serve
customers well. As well as academic rigour, we need schools to produce rounded
and grounded young people who have the skills and behaviours that businesses
want."
John Cridland (BBC 2012)
This to me clearly indicates that what the
CBI are actually after is an education system that suits them and produces a
different type of conveyor belt adults who from an early age are socialised to
be a part of a system that wants people who will not question what their bosses
say nor answer them back but will do what is asked of and required of them with
the minimum of guidance.
They will have the necessary life skills to
cope with whatever life throws at them and this will, in theory minimise the
amount of time they take off work and will increase their productivity for
their employers.
In essence what the CBI are wanting is a
conveyor belt of young adults who are ready to serve the bosses and leaders of
businesses unquestionably and who will devote all their time and energy to
ensuring that these businesses make the most profits for their owners. In other
words what the CBI want is a conveyor belt of robot workers who will make as
much profit as possible for the owners of business.
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