Education teaches a variety of disciplines: logic, facts,
the ability to calculate and deduce, and saying things that are true appear now
and then. But being a pundit, and one required to talk up the
not-much-of-a-legacy of Michael “Oiky”
Gove, requires the suspension of disbelief, so that the myth can be maintained.
And here we encounter the Telegraph’s
Matthew d’Ancona.
Yes, "Oiky", you still have some fans
“Does the passion of
Michael Gove still burn bright? Exam results vindicate the former education
secretary's reforms - now his successor must keep that radical flame alive” tells
the headline, showing that d’Ancona has gone wrong at the very start: Gove’s
reforms, as any fule kno, have not even got into the A-Level syllabus yet. They
have had no effect on this year’s results.
Just to get d’Ancona
and his fellow Gove admirers up to speed: “Oiky”
kicked off his review
of the national curriculum back in 2011. There was talk last year of
teaching the resulting new curriculum by this year, but that was thought
unrealistic by many. There was also the
Pisa tests last year, where Gove claimed
the results were down to Labour. Nine months later, everything is suddenly
Gove’s doing.
No matter, d’Ancona
is sticking to his version of recent history: “In 2012, the proportion of A and A* grades awarded at A-level fell for
the first time since 1991, as the brakes were jammed at last on the runaway
train of grade inflation”. And how, exactly, had his hero achieved this
brake application? Strangely, Gove did not mention it in
his official statement on those results.
So, Matthew, tell
us about the latest results. “Last
week, for the third year in a row, there was a fall in the percentage of A grades
awarded and, for the first time in 32 years, a slight decline in the pass rate.
We are moving from politically motivated Weimar education to a restoration of
the gold standard”. Last time we went back on the Gold Standard, the UK
economy got screwed. Not a good analogy.
Have another go. “In
the age of the ‘global race’, even an arch-defender of the humanities like me
has to welcome the news that the number of candidates taking A-level maths has
almost doubled in a decade and that computing is the fastest-rising A-level
subject in the UK”. Given the two year lead time, that is seven of those
ten years starting not under Gove, but under Labour.
So what is “Oiky”
doing in his new role? “Those who attend
the morning and afternoon meetings at No 10 say that they have become a
powerhouse of debate, policy and strategy formation, now that William Hague (as
Leader of the House) and Gove have joined Cameron and George Osborne in the
huddle”. Bingo! Smash advert re-run meets straight-A f*** right off moment.
Suspension of disbelief? Suspension of reality, more like. What a complete tosser.
1 comment:
You covered the "Maths overtakes English" spin, but in the same paragraph we have this:
"... computing is the fastest-rising A-level subject in the UK..."
Wow! That sure sounds like a good thing for the 21st century, information age? Right?
No. Well, partly.
You see, at the same time as entries for the Computing A-level are rising fast (from an embarrassingly low level: up 478, or 11%, from 3,758 to 4,171), the entries for ICT are falling even faster (down 940, or 9%, from 10,419 to 9,479).
Computing may be a better qualification than ICT (i.e. more suited to the modern workplace or for computer focused degree courses at university), but:
a) The overall number of entrants for IT related subjects (Computing & ICT) is down (14,177 to 13,650).
b) The entrants for Computing alone (4,171) is less than two thirds the number of entrants for "Classical subjects" (6,443).
c) Computing & ICT entrants combined were slightly less than those for Drama (13,864).
Without wishing to denigrate either Classics or Drama as subjects worthy of study, I do wonder what the government thinks the long term economic effect of the current balance will be?
All figures sourced from: http://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/a-levels
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