Edge

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21 January 2010 Let's motivate these disengaged young people! A message for:

The next Education Secretary

As a long-serving Teaching Assistant I have spent countless frustrating hours trying in vain to motivate young people in learning subjects they have no interest in, no hope of gaining a credible qualification in and are therefore a complete waste of education. They need practical skills that will equip them for life, enable them to physically see and be proud of their achievements and give them the drive and ambition that is sadly lacking in the youth of today. Its too late to wait till year 10! - we need to start to capture interests and develop skills with 10 to 11 year olds whilst they still have enthusiasm for learning. Denise Denise Poole

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21 January 2010 vocational learning A message for:

Ed Balls

If we offered more vocational subjects, children who struggle academically could feel that they could shine, in a worthwhile vocation that could keep them in good stead for the rest of their lives. To be taught a trade instead of leaving school with barely a qualification to their name. I have always believed that all children have a gift of something, it just needs a helping hand sometimes to develop. Why cannot we as a nation make sure that schools provide vocational subjects alongside the curriculum, if we leave it to 16+ colleges it is sometimes too late. Give the option at school, with all the local schools sharing the facilities between them. Get local firms interested in sponsoring pupils and offering apprentices. Antoinette

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18 January 2010 vocational learning A message for:

Ed Balls

May I suggest that the Government bring back real apprenticeships for young people at the age of 16. These were discarded by the Conservative Government and it has been very much to the detriment of industry and our young people. These need to be proper apprenticeships for 5 years, subsidised by the Government in partnership with industry. The old style day release should be reinstated to give young people a good qualification at the end. They could then go on to further education at 21 if they wished to. We have a great many situations at the moment where at 21 young people are qualified academically but lack any real practical experience. No young person should be leaving school at 16 without the prospect of a real apprenticeship, not just some wishy washy work experience lasting a few months.

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14 January 2010 Recent educational reforms must be changed. Our education system currently gives the impression that all young people need to be treated equally. This can be damaging to the prospects of young people. If somebody is very gifted at playing football they are not made to play at the level of less gifted people. However is the student is ACADEMICALLY gifted they are held back and at times ignored because the less academically gifted are given constant special attention. I think that the "high-ups" in the education system need to remove themselves from the idea that if a student is put in a lower band or class it is unfair. By mixing all students you are holding back the top range and damaging the opportunities of the bottom range of students. Nicholas Freeburn Lisburn

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05 February 2010 stop meddling A message for:

The next Education Secretary

Stop all the unnecessary paperwork that is now generated. Encourage students to take up non academic studies such as plumbing/construction as we have an aging workforce and need new blood. Make apprenticeships with large companies compulsory so the training is on going. Give teachers encouragement and praise when they are doing well and stop making all schools an extension of the social work network as teachers are there to teach not 'mother'. Give schools back the power to discipline children properly but fairly and teach parents to 'parent' their children not leave it to schools to teach manners and social skills. All govenrments have meddled too much without knowing what is going on in schools. Janet Harlow

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20 November 2009 Why educate? I believe there is a fundamental question to ask ourselves; why we need to "educate" our children and why is it that when we say educate we immediately see an adult standing in front of a young person "educating" them. I see in most "educated" people incapacity to share, incapacity to negotiate, incapacity to change, incapacity to understand new ideas and concepts, incapacity to think, incapacity to manage power, incapacity to communicate, incapacity to act and incapacity to love and innovate. If we adults can't do this how can we put ourselves in the front line for administering, designing and providing "Education”? Andrea Puerta London

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30 November 2009 Facilitate don’t teach Throughout my education I got good grades but that was because I learnt how to pass exams, it wasn’t because I learnt a great deal about all the subjects. It wasn’t until I completed a National Diploma that I felt I was learning. This was because, as at university, I was able to challenge myself and learn through a mixture of practice and theory. The biggest problem I found throughout my education was making subject choices. I ended up studying Graphic Design all the way to undergraduate level, not because I wanted to be a graphic designer, but because it was a subject that suited my learning and desire to solve problems. Researching and investigating a problem to produce an innovative and creative solution, is what I think I do best, but what subject is that? Now I have a graphic design degree that could potentially be as much of a restriction as it is an advantage to me in my search for a career. Harry Smith Brighton

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26 November 2009 Too much pressure to perform I have a son in upper sixth form and he is taking three A levels. He feels so close to breaking point now because of the pressure put upon him, i feel, perhaps wrongly, that all the school system is fighting for is their position on the 'leader boards' at the expense of our childrens sanity. Oonagh Moreton

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01 December 2009 Education - Microformats and seperation of learning & assessment I have three proposals 1. Use far smaller units - building blocks. Rather than 1 year integrated courses allow learners to select far smaller elements to allow mixing and matching at different levels and between "subjects" 2, Separate learning from testing - in the same way we do driving cars. A crucial aspect in much of this is technology. The current timetable model of education constrains education - with flexible delivery by technology we can learn what we want when we want. Martin King London

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21 October 2009 Provide genuine choice Ensure that more, good quality, vocational courses are funded and available to a wider number of people - particularly those that increase and offer direct access to the professions. Clare Morley, AAT London

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08 February 2010 education A message for:

The next Education Secretary

Stop macking children feel ashamed of beaing clever with there hands. The country NEEDS all traids not just education and silly bits of paper that are worthless. Rita Manchester

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07 February 2010 The Antiquated Education system in a modern-day world A message for:

The next Education Secretary

I recently graduated from university and am now at the cross roads where I need to de3cide what vocation to put my mind to. Unfortunately neither my primary, secondary nor university education has prepared me in any way for what the working world is like, or helped give me an idea about what occupations I would be interested in. Moreover, they haven't provided me with the necessary skills to cope with the modern working world (I have NEVER met anyone who has used the high level maths & science I learned at school in a working situation). Luckily I have gained much work experience alongside my education off my own back and have had to learn for myself what makes the world tick. Not everyone has the initiative, support or knowhow to do this however. Surely our education system's job is to prepare children for life in Britain so that they can go on to make a benefitial contribution to society. Politicians seem to be constantly arguing about the terrible economic situation in Britain where individual debt is one of the highest (if not the highest) in the western world, but I have not once heard a politician suggest that perhaps the education system could be to blame. If children leave school at 16 and have never been taught about credit and managing their personal finance then how can we expect them to say no to credit companies handing out loans and credit cards left, right and centre? It is not rocket science... WE DESPERATELY NEED TO REFORM OUR OUTDATED, ACADEMIC-FOCUSED, INPRACTICAL CURRICULUM TO REPRESENT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE REAL WORLD!!! Scott Birmingham

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