Every
year we get the same drill. Every
August, when the exam results emerge, we get the same shrill debates. We
find that, either: the results have risen, and people start arguing that
the exams are getting easier; or, the exam results get lower, and the same
people start yelling that the young are less competent than earlier
generations. So, what is the current
state of play as it regards to the young.
In
2012 we see that the amount of students being awarded top grades in GCSE has
dropped for the first time since their
creation in 1985/6. In this exam period only
one in five exam entries received the grade of A or A*. We get a similar picture if we look at the A
level results for 2012. We can see that
this year A level grades have dropped, with fewer students receiving top
grades.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19349444)
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19266381)
Things get bleaker when we consider the comparatively high levels
of youth unemployment in the United Kingdom. During the time period June to
August 2013, 985,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed. The unemployment
rate for 16-25 was 21% up on both the last quarter and the previous year. (http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05871)
In
addition, Employers and Politicians noisily speak of the skills gap that exists
in the current employment market. They argue that the potential workers, and
young people, do not have the required skills to fill the potential technically
advanced jobs. Employers and the CBI argue that the current, academically
focused, education system does not provide them with the technically skilled
workers they will need to compete in a highly globalized, highly technological
society. It is predicted that by 2020
the majority of employment opportunities will be found within highly skilled
employment sectors. Therefore, employers argue that; students should be
encouraged to take shorter degree programs and spend more time on vocationally
focused courses/apprenticeships.
Moreover, a recent
report ‘Recent
Changes In Intergenerational Mobility In Britain’ http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2007/SocialMobilityDec07.aspx has argued that
the level of social mobility is the same today as it was in the 1970s. It found that a child’s ability to achieve is
dependent on their parents' income. We can see this if we look at who is active
within Parliament, How many politicians
have working class parents? How many went to state run schools? http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2007/SocialMobilityDec07.aspx
These
combined trends have caused politicians, of every political colour, to rethink
education. The Conservatives
call for a return to academic excellence,
while Labour, call for a more vocational focused educational system.
Education
Policy and Beyond
Every
culture has a way of passing on cultural norms and values to its younger
citizens. Every society knows the importance of doing so. Every successful culture has developed ways
to pass on its norms and values to its young. It’s part of cultural
evolution. So, education is a pivotal
issue.
But,
issues of education are not just about passing on a story down to the
young. It’s about framing the future of
any given society. It’s about deciding
which aspects of any given period should be carried over to the next. What memories should be left behind. It’s about predicting what the world will be
like in the future and shaping today’s education policies accordingly.
Therefore, when you look at a party's education policy, you are getting a
glimpse of that party’s idea about the future.
That
is why I decided to embark on this close reading of Labour and the Coalition’s
education policy. I will do this
through a close reading of two speeches; one given by Stephen Twigg and the
other given by Michael Gove. I think that these speeches give a fair indication
of the education policy of the two party’s.
But, in addition to that, when read closely, these speeches give us a
fair glimpse of how these party’s see; this country, the future and the kind of
society they wish to create. These
speeches were given, by the then education ministers, to; The Policy Exchange (reprinted by the Labour
party website) http://www.labour.org.uk/a-blueprint-for-one-nation-education-vocational-education,2013-01-23
and SMF http://www.smf.co.uk/media/news/michael-gove-speaks-smf/
(and reprinted by the Conservative’s Website).
My next two blogs will explore this policy in more detail.
