BALLS TALKS BALLS
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 07:08AM I see that our wonderful Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, has indicated that government may scrap "A" levels within six years and replace them with work-based diplomas, under the biggest exams shake-up in 20 years. Makes sense to me!
This wicked government is out to destroy any remnant of anything of value in our Education system and scrapping the "A" level seems fully in line with that objective. I agree with Michael Gove, the Conservative spokesman, when he points out that..
" Diplomas were supposed to be about improving vocational education not undermining academic excellence. We support the reform of vocational learning but these new exams are designed to subvert GCSEs and A levels.”
Exactly - and the Government's plans are enthusiastically endorsed by the radical egalitarians that infest the state education. Government destroyed the "O" level and replaced it with the useless "GCSE", now it aims to axe the "A" level and in due course I am certain that it will work to ensure that the University Degree becomes even less worthy than it currently is. This is a left-wing process of de-education, it is the systematic destruction of instilling academic excellence so that all can have prizes, and that Government can look forward to generations that lack the knowledge to think for themselves.
View Printer Friendly Version
Reader Comments (6)
The government recently announced that it would be necessary to allow hundreds of thousands more "highly skilled" immigrants into the UK over the next few years to plug skills gaps in many areas. I find this an apalling commentary on the abysmal failure of our educational system to provide sufficient numbers of appropriately trained people to meet the needs of our economy. At the same time, we have hundreds of thousands of Poles immigrating to meet labour shortages in the low-wage end of the market. So there appears to be a growing mis-match at both ends of the labour market.
This educational / vocational failure must stretch back for decades. It's well known that if foreign nationals were to withdraw from the Health Service it would collapse overnight.
The curent political elite will just perpetuate itself into the next generation as Balls's and Cooper's children (with the Milibands et al) take over the reins of power from their parents. Political dynasties will flourish as the doors of opportunity are shut to the rest of us, a sea of worthless 2: 1 degree holders who cannot get a job. I should imagine Blair will ensure his spawn are far away from this overpopulated, polyglot, balkanized, self loathing, multicultural mess that he created, protected as ever by the strong arm of Scotland Yard in his American palace.
How long will it take this government to reduce the status of a diploma?
All of this will be rendered irrelevant when Britain's young are educated in madressas.
Is it one further step down the road to dumbasscus or is it an attempt to put some shred of worth for employers into British state education ?
The A level has, from the venerable '2%', top notch, best of the best status it enjoyed in your day David, been reduced to the point where it is now as about as impressive to employers as candidate flatulence. I have known people to pass a-level exams they sat 'under the influence'.
Perhaps Balls is trying to get a qualification that is compatible to an extent with the labour project (cosmetic universal equality) and that can be sold as a genuine achievement to employers and parents (and voters) ?
More worryingly is the seemingly buckfast inspired policy of plugging gaps in our peoples modern skills and capacities and masking flaws in our infrastructure by importing skilled and unskilled labour from abroad, this harms developing or economically disadvantaged countries and removes any impetus from society, beyond parental / personal ambition, to train the young.
The gov often say the foreigner generate capital will nurse us in our old age, will hey also tend to us in helpless inebriant youth ?
When the germanic peoples turned on their roman masters, the ground was greasy with fat for weeks.
May I suggest an even more radical idea in dumbing down,
Kelloggs could put Ph.D.s on the back of Corn Flakes packs then nearly every one could have one .