"Today though it's ALL about exam success - often at cost of real subject understanding".

I work in (and around) education. Bromptonaut is absolutely correct in this observation. The necessity to prove a school's success through exam results will always drive the curriculum. Children are regularly taught to the test; a deep understanding would take too long and be simply unattainable for some pupils. Americans, rather endearingly, refer to the process as 'poke and puke' teaching.

I'm very happy to sit back and see just where this topic goes.

I should perhaps have admitted that my father and an aunt taught for over 40 years, both qualified before the War and both had a wide range of knowledge, from basic science to Greek mythology and most things in between.

My first wife qualified as a teacher in 1968 when the notorious ITA was being rolled out; her view was that the transition to TO was as much of a struggle for some as learning in TO from the start would have been. Bright kids had no problem either way.

As others have pointed out, political interference and ideologically driven 'experts' have caused most of the problems. Abolition of Grammar schools is considered by some to have 'pulled up the drawbridge' preventing bright children from less advantaged backgrounds achieving their potential, the demonising of 'streaming' has also done no favours to anyone.

Being able to add/multiply etc, check your change, calculate the area of a room, reconcile your bank account and understand if you've come up with a plausible answer to those questions are life skills.

Yes, and are so basic you hardly need to attend school to attain them.

Quadratic equations, mechanics and trig are not. Other than pythagoras's stuff with right angled triangles I doubt much of the geometry etc I learned to pass an O level has been much use since.

Perhaps not to you personally. I agree that lots of people are about as knowledgeable about their surroundings as chimps at a tea party. However, if you want a country capable of making, repairing and developing the equipment and infrastructure we take for granted in our homes, towns and countryside, an A level in such subjects is merely the entry ticket to developing the knowledge and expertise required.

We now seem to regard anyone who cannot get GCSE Maths as thick.

Quite so. Superficially they can often talk the talk - even at Oxbridge debating societies, but they can rarely walk the walk when it comes to creating and maintaining a modern society. Just look around the world and see what happens to a country when such experts depart.

A very important subject. A very wide ranging one too. From political interference to the new ideas brought in by Shirley Williams, the whole system has been corrupted by poor planning, even worse thinking and the ususal chronic short termism of many governments. My own example is typical. The school I left to start work was in excellent shape and regularly produced clever students who made their way in many walks of life. In our area heavy engineering and chemical industries demanded a range of talent from the schools. Bright for the technical disciplines graduating down to the shop floor labourers. Most had good skills with literacy and numeracy. We all had to write formal letters of application which required a certain level of skill. As for numeracy, just try short changing someone in those days prior to the simpler decimal system. We also played cards, darts and usually had a bet, so we knew a thing or two about numbers when it came to winning or cash.

Later on my job required me to source apprentices for several places we had available. An application from a student at my old school arrived. I was appaled at the lack of literacy. The grammar, punctuation and syntax were virtually non existant. However, few of the others were much better. I interviewed this young chap and after some conversation realised that he was far from thick, simply poorly educated. What a real let down that was. He knew nothing of history, geography or english literature. A real shame. He turned out to be an excellent apprentice and went on to day release courses to gain qualifications. I often thought it a pity that some of the richness of life gained through literature and history was denied to him. On the other hand he may not have been bothered.

My solution would be to change the school curriculum. Fewer subjects taught to a greater depth. Sports put back on the agenda. All political and religious ideology which is not part of historical events should not be allowed to influence young minds. Put down the political football and concentrate on producing students with as many good basic skills of which they are capable. The really clever stuff comes later when the basics are mastered. In return, teachers would have more time to teach instead of box ticking or form filling and living in fear of a slip in 'grades'. The resultant happier teachers and students would be self evident.

But, maybe I am out of touch. But I possess skills that very few student or graduates possess. The ability to write clearly and concisely to explain and express my thoughts.Be able to challenge someone in a shop when they are incorrect with the sum due or the change required, without the use of a calculator. If that is old fashioned and not important any longer then I despair.

Like in many areas the thinking within the system is now down to a certain level, which means the blind leading the blind. The gap between the cleverest and the less clever is wider than ever. Similarly in sociology, gaps between the have and have nots are wider than ever. Why should this be? Could it be poor education is the root cause. Discuss.

Cheers Concrete

" I need to use different educational services (like this one: ******************) to do everything on time."

No, you don't. You need to get yourself organised and work harder. Actually, Spencer is most probably not a student at all, but merely a front for the spam his post represents.

No student needs to spend money on an essay-writing service that is nothing other than a short-cut, does not engage your brain and therefore doesn't develop your skills as a student. It is cheating and will get you into serious trouble at college - possibly even expulsion.

It is classified as plagiarism and students sign a statement every time work is submitted to confirm the work is entirely their own.

Colleges now use software to detect this sort of thing and it it's even suspected, the student concerned will at the very least be interviewed about the essay in question - which they will not have written and will know little about. At this point the cheating will have been exposed and the effect will be humiliating.

totally agree! educational pressure is unbearable sometimes, however, I'm a diligent student. but I have to work part-time, so I have to say it's impossible. How's to save your mental health? and I'm not talking about the grades for your essays. But I've found a solution and I'm so happy with it!

Link removed.

Edited by Avant on 31/12/2017 at 14:22

Why would anyone use your 'service' if you cannot even write your advert in proper English?

((facepalm)) and reported as spam.

While general standards of grammar and spelling might have slipped since the 1960s, I'm old enough to remember that even in the 1970's it wasn't that unusual to find adults in unskilled working-class jobs who were illiterate, as in 'could not read or write'. These people were often very good at covering up their illiteracy with excuses - e.g. "I can't quite read that, I left my glasses in the car." etc. Nowadays everyone under the age of 30 knows how to text.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 07/05/2020 at 12:59