Saturday 30 March 2013
This Country is at War…
Saturday 9 February 2013
Where Education Fails
Gove’s plans to scrap certain GCSEs in return for the English Baccalaureate was apparently lacking in quality this week as he announced his failure in the House of Commons. Calling them a “bridge too far”, we saw another U-turn in Government policy and a fortunate concession to Labour and teaching Unions who rightfully expressed concerns and fear at the proposals. Unfortunately, however, this is just one change of many that was being pushed through the Houses of Parliament. Alongside this, there are plans to make GCSEs and A-Levels much more rigorous and demanding whilst changing the curriculum dramatically. Schools are being told that the current system for exams are too easy and that students need to be pushed harder and harder; the stress is on the outcomes of exams.
At a recent lecture at the University of Birmingham, Anthony Seldon, author of famous biographies of Blair, argued that the Government (and schools) focus far too much on the measurable factor of qualifications gained rather than the personal development of the individual who spends up to seven years in their institution. Tested solely on their ability to soak up knowledge and regurgitate it on a piece of paper (perhaps in a certain style), schools seem lacking in building up confidence skills, creativity and that flair of determination that you would hope to see in every student as a result. Instead, like battery hens, students are pushed through a system of education where their sole purpose is to gain good grades so their school can demonstrate their “excellence” whilst the student is then pushed along on the factory line for the next institution.
Ironically, it would seem, this kind of approach to pushing children through education is one that causes demotivation, dissatisfaction and, in some cases, anti-establishmentarianism. Simply being pushed by their “superiors” to achieve A-grades in the core subjects, it is often heard that a lack of A-grades simply translates to a lack of success. Hence, if you don’t achieve A-grades, you are a failure and you will get nowhere in your life. Yet, this could just end up as a self-fulfilling prophecy; being told you will achieve nothing means you will achieve nothing. You might be putting your all into it, but being told that there’s no point because you’ll get nowhere – why not just give up?
Meanwhile, the different learning styles of individuals are overlooked; alternative qualifications such as BTECs and apprenticeships are deemed inferior, “for stupid people”. Apprenticeships are not accepted on UCAS, and many universities and employers overlook or do not display the criteria in any other form than A-Levels. Despite being more specialised in their area, those with BTEC or similar qualifications are told their qualifications are not of equal worth to A-Levels. This is quite simply outrageous.
Of course, this article is not true of every educational institution. There are many across the country that do realise the full potential of individuals and do accept the qualifications that others are too elitist to do so; those whom do give people a chance without judgement. These are the places we should be drawing inspiration for. It is argued that those who are given a chance to strive for something and work at their rate learn better and faster than those are forced into a strict schedule and discipline. Surely, these children would become passionate about a certain field, develop for that field and become better workers.
In the current British system of education, there are many flaws that do need fixing. You can argue that exams may be too easy and that different exam boards are competing for schools by offering lower boundaries for grades, but the truth is that full potential can be realised through the self-development of individuals. Rather than focusing on exam grades, focus on their passions, their skills and their needs.
Monday 4 February 2013
On Track to Disappoint
The Government has announced phase 2 of its High Speed 2 project, connecting the major northern cities of Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield to the capital. It also endeavours to link the route to existing networks so that journeys can continue to other cities and major towns. However, the route seems set to benefit few and drive up customers' travel costs. As such, there is large and justified opposition to the plans. Many arguments draw from the criticisms of High Speed 1, which serves the South-East county of Kent. The announcement also comes in the wake of recent failures of the existing infrastructure in Wales, the South-west and the West Coast Mainline franchise bidding process. Hence, the argument of whether we should really be developing the new rail network is one is understandable.
It's apparent that this is a ludicrous commitment from a Government forcing austerity on its nation and cuts on its vital services. It's quite strange that there would be such a high-cost project when the Government is telling us to restrict our spending. This added cost of £50 billion over a relatively long time frame of at least 16 years just does not make sense and is an unjustifiable amount to the taxpayer's bill. In the UK, we already have failing rail networks; a lack of electrification in Wales and on the East Coast mainline, failures of trains in adverse weather conditions in the Southern counties and a massive problem with existing trains regularly running delayed. Surely if we are to invest any money into the railways, it should be in upgrading and strengthening existing infrastructure rather than developing an entirely new costly project.
The construction of High Speed 1 and its opening in 2007 does not give any empirical evidence that justifies its extension. The route which serves parts of Kent is dismal and disappointing whilst it also disproportionately raised fares across the rest of the Southeastern network. After its launch, no matter where you travelled from, you were likely to be met with a hike in ticket prices and a reduction in service. The train also pulls into Saint Pancras International meaning customers then have to pay an extra £6 for a London travelcard in order to get to more central parts of the city. Customers have also noted that the journey times of the High Speed trains are only minutely less than those of "normal speed" trains, some pulling in to London only ten minutes later. Take into account the number of extra stations these older trains call at, this is not surprising. What’s to say that these criticisms won’t be made of High Speed 2 also?
The limits of the guaranteed high costs of the train and the few stops it will call out demonstrate that this network will only benefit few. Essentially those on high incomes, travelling for business or who have managed to buy a cheap advance ticket will be the only people to benefit from this deal. Whilst those living in parts of the country that it won’t visit will be paying the construction and maintenance costs without ever the likelihood of putting one foot on the service.
Furthermore, the given route for this network seems simply an extension, or perhaps a replacement, of the existing highly commended West Coast Mainline as the route is planned to run from its terminuses London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street as well as new stations in other cities it serves, such as Birmingham (Curzon Street). For the London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street route, it seems set only to cut the time by the small amount of 15 minutes.
High Speed 2 seems on track to disappoint many of us as we realise that the service has not benefitted us, but only cost us money. Whilst the Government proceeds with this preposterous development through our taxes, existing networks will fail, we will continue to get frustrated and our service will not improve. Full speed ahead then, right?