See you when you're eighteen, darling
Apparently the Secretary of State for Education, and possible challenger to Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership, is called Alan Johnson. I have to confess he had made little – oh , all right, no – impression upon me until this weekend when he came up with an Idea.
And it is this: How about opening State schools on a Saturday as well! For more extracurricular activities such as art, music, drama and dance, as well as catch-up lessons at weekends. (my highlighting and I am saying nothing yet, though I expect you can see the red mist forming before my eyes. I am merely telling you what he proposes).
And, further, he is “seriously considering” raising the school-leaving age to eighteen because “too many youngsters still had little in the way of training or qualifications” (The Sunday Times).
So, let us combine this with the initiative I wrote about the other day, where schools are to open from 8am to 6pm every weekend for parents to dump their kids, sorry, I mean "enrich their children’s lives with wonderful activities".
Pretty soon you’ll be able to drop your kids off at school at age five, folks, and never see them again until they’re legally able to vote!
What does he plan that all these children should do on Saturdays? And how on earth is this to be staffed? Simply by extending the teachers’ working week? I don’t think so: apparently teachers’ union leaders have reacted “coolly” to the suggestion. (Quelle surprise). So they’d need lots of extra teachers, costing lots of extra money which could be far better spent on improving educational standards from Monday to Friday.
I come back to my argument from the other day: no matter how exciting and fun your job is – and, let’s face it, school is always exciting and fun, ask any teenager - would you like to do it on Saturdays too?
As for extending the school-leaving age, I rather suspect that Alan Johnson hasn’t totally thought that one through either, apart from the old adage that Teachers are Cheaper than Policemen. What new, exciting courses has he planned that will make less academic sixteen to eighteens happy to stay on at school? Errr - - well, none, yet.
Yes, of course there should be art, music and drama available to children and teenagers out of school hours, and sport (for those who like that sort of thing) and non-competitive outdoor activities such as sailing, canoeing, fell-walking, rock-climbing - - oh, if we have the money – and we do - let us spend the money on those life-enriching activities and not on keeping children in schools and buying a few extra sheets of sugar paper.
And now I come to how Alan Johnson phrased this exciting new suggestion:
“What you can do with Saturday schools is issues like the arts, music and dance, and broaden horizons, using that important time as an educational tool.”
Nobody who uses the word “issues” in that context should be Secretary of State for Education. Never, never, never.
I think I feel a letter to my MP coming on.
And it is this: How about opening State schools on a Saturday as well! For more extracurricular activities such as art, music, drama and dance, as well as catch-up lessons at weekends. (my highlighting and I am saying nothing yet, though I expect you can see the red mist forming before my eyes. I am merely telling you what he proposes).
And, further, he is “seriously considering” raising the school-leaving age to eighteen because “too many youngsters still had little in the way of training or qualifications” (The Sunday Times).
So, let us combine this with the initiative I wrote about the other day, where schools are to open from 8am to 6pm every weekend for parents to dump their kids, sorry, I mean "enrich their children’s lives with wonderful activities".
Pretty soon you’ll be able to drop your kids off at school at age five, folks, and never see them again until they’re legally able to vote!
What does he plan that all these children should do on Saturdays? And how on earth is this to be staffed? Simply by extending the teachers’ working week? I don’t think so: apparently teachers’ union leaders have reacted “coolly” to the suggestion. (Quelle surprise). So they’d need lots of extra teachers, costing lots of extra money which could be far better spent on improving educational standards from Monday to Friday.
I come back to my argument from the other day: no matter how exciting and fun your job is – and, let’s face it, school is always exciting and fun, ask any teenager - would you like to do it on Saturdays too?
As for extending the school-leaving age, I rather suspect that Alan Johnson hasn’t totally thought that one through either, apart from the old adage that Teachers are Cheaper than Policemen. What new, exciting courses has he planned that will make less academic sixteen to eighteens happy to stay on at school? Errr - - well, none, yet.
Yes, of course there should be art, music and drama available to children and teenagers out of school hours, and sport (for those who like that sort of thing) and non-competitive outdoor activities such as sailing, canoeing, fell-walking, rock-climbing - - oh, if we have the money – and we do - let us spend the money on those life-enriching activities and not on keeping children in schools and buying a few extra sheets of sugar paper.
And now I come to how Alan Johnson phrased this exciting new suggestion:
“What you can do with Saturday schools is issues like the arts, music and dance, and broaden horizons, using that important time as an educational tool.”
Nobody who uses the word “issues” in that context should be Secretary of State for Education. Never, never, never.
I think I feel a letter to my MP coming on.
posted by Daphne at 5:41 pm
1 Comments:
If you can suggest something for me to write to my MP, that would be lovely. I can't formulate a coherent sentence to that man, because he infuriated me several years ago by refusing to acknowledge receipt of a letter which I copied in email BUT HE SPAMMED ME WITH CHRISTMAS GREETINGS ANYWAY. Snarl. Didn't use a Bcc: line either so got a lot of the Thames Valley geeks emailing very sarky responses Bcc'ed to everyone else on the list. Hah.
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