Ken Boaler of Bronte Drive, Ledbury says education system failing our young (From Hereford Times)

Ken Boaler of Bronte Drive, Ledbury says education system failing our young

3:00pm Monday 30th April 2012 in Letters

WE surely have cause to worry about the trickle of adverse reports concerning the current education system.

For instance, it is reported that more than half of university lecturers are having to provide remedial classes to improve the basic academic skills of newly arrived university students who, after 13 to 15 years of education, are semi-numerate, unable to write essays, or to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. They are unable to study by themselves or to carry out research – and yet have been selected for university because of their very good A-level results. So, with these excellent exam results, why do they have trouble with basic academic skills?

Teachers have recently said that they are being ‘forced’ to manipulate and inflate pupils’ results in order to hit targets. They do not say who does the ‘forcing’ nor how.

Some teachers have admitted rewriting pupils’ homework for them, helping them to complete their coursework, and paying examiners a fee for a briefing on what the next examination paper might contain – and they do concede that these actions could compromise their integrity.

Do the teachers who are engaged in these dubious activities really think that potential employers do not have the wit to notice the disparity between paper qualifications and actual knowledge, when these youngsters go for a job interview?

KEN BOALER, Bronte Drive, Ledbury.