Key Quotes - Education

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




All pupils who sat GCSEs this summer were treated "unfairly", the Education Secretary has admitted, but he refused to order the exam regulator to re-mark papers. Michael Gove said this summer's controversy had shown why the examination needed to be replaced with a more rigorous qualification similar to O-Levels, and one in which only a "high flier" could obtain a top grade. The new exam, which could come into force as soon as 2014, would be sat by all pupils, unlike O-Levels, which were taken by only the most academically able while other pupils were awarded CSEs. Modular assessments, where pupils' work is graded throughout the year rather than in a written exam, could be phased out for English GCSEs by the summer. Mr Gove said all those who took GCSEs were let down by the system, and not just those who narrowly missed out on a passing C grade in English due to tougher marking. But he said it would be wrong to intervene by ordering Ofqual to re-mark papers.
Education	Daily Telegraph 04.09.2012



Vulnerable children could be placed at greater risk by government plans to cut red tape around child protection, experts have warned. An alliance of charities, pressure groups and lawyers is calling on ministers to drop proposals to streamline more than 700 pages of statutory guidance on safeguarding children into three documents totalling fewer than 70 pages. Under the plans, local authorities would no longer have to assess a child's needs within seven days of receiving a referral containing welfare concerns, nor produce a more detailed report within seven weeks. The Every Child in Need group says the current rules provide an essential minimum standard of care for young people who need help, and without them they would face differing treatment from councils throughout the country. The Department for Education said it is committed to protecting vulnerable children, and reducing bureaucracy will help staff carry out safeguarding work.
Education	Daily Telegraph 04.09.2012



A coalition of children's charities has accused the Government of making its consultation on blocking online pornography deliberately complicated. Ministers are asking parents and children's organisations for their views on whether to impose tougher controls to protect youngsters from seeing hardcore pornography on the internet. The consultation asks people if they would like to see an 'opt-in' system or a less stringent solution, known as 'active choice'. Under the first system, porn is automatically blocked on people's computers unless they 'opt in' to see it, while under the second it is only blocked if they apply to have such material filtered. John Carr, from the Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety, said ministers wanted the less stringent solution, meaning they are doing all they can to prevent parents and charities from putting forward their view. He said the consultation, by the Department for Education, was much shorter than the usual length for government consultations - ten weeks instead of 12 - and has been timed for the summer to prevent people having their voices heard. He added that the web page set up for people to respond is confusing and complicated, deterring many from taking part. Instead of the usual situation, where people can type in their comments directly on the page, in this case they have to down-load a Word document and fill in a long list of questions, before re-uploading the document. They also have to go through a time-consuming security check.
Education	The Daily Mail 03.09.2012



Britain's dumbed down exams system is 'patronising and cruel', David Cameron said yesterday. The Prime Minister said it was right to raise exam standards, even if that means that results sometimes go down. He added: 'The easy road on education is to cave in to the unions who want to keep inflating the GCSE and A-level grades and pretend that standards are rising each year. So this Government is being braver. In schools, there will be no more excuses for failure - no more soft exams and soft discipline. 'We saw that change in the exam results this year. When the grades went down a predictable cry went up: that we were hurting the prospects of these children. To that we must be very clear. What hurts them is dumbing down their education so their potential is never reached and no one wants to employ them.’
Education	The Daily Mail 03.09.2012



More than 2,000 students face deportation from the country after the Government stripped a university of its right to admit foreigners. London Metropolitan University has had its Highly Trusted Status (HTS) for sponsoring international students revoked and will no longer be allowed to authorise visas. The move could mean more than 2,000 students being deported within 60 days unless they find another sponsor. Universities Minister David Willetts has announced the formation of a task force to help overseas students affected by the decision.
Education	The Sentinel - August 31, 2012



Earlier this summer, Nick Clegg hailed a transformation in free early education a he announced a shake-up of the way it is delivered. The changes include a huge boost for hundreds of two-year-olds who will get access to free childcare earlier than originally billed. At the moment, all three and four year olds are eligible for 15 hours of free early education per week. Two-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds were due to start receiving free pre-school education from 2012, but the Deputy Prime Minister wants to see the programme rolling out early from this September.
Education	Families First – September/October 2012



Hundreds of pupils are being removed from school for 'sexual misconduct', prompting concerns over the influence of pornography. More pupils are being expelled for sexual misconduct than bullying, the Department for Education figures showed. Charities yesterday warned that easy access to online pornography was fuelling 'unhealthy' attitudes to sex among some youngsters. Jon Brown, of the NSPCC, said: 'the figures show a worrying trend of schools having to suspend or exclude a significant number of pupils for sexual misconduct. We are concerned that some young people are forming unhealthy attitudes to sex. 'We know from talking to them that there Is increasing pressure to engage in risky behaviour and access to hard core videos on the internet is now easier than ever. ‘There has been a "normalising" of risky sexual activity.’ Pupils in all schools were suspended 3,010 times in 2010/11 for sexual misconduct and 80 were expelled; 60 were thrown out for bullying.
Education	The Daily Mail July 26 2012



A rising tide of violent indiscipline in primary schools was laid bare yesterday. Official figures revealed that 90 children are sent home every day for attacking teachers or classmates. And the worst deterioration in behaviour is being seen in the most affluent parts of the country. Teachers blamed parents for failing to equip children with the social skills they need to cope in the classroom. Last year primary schools expelled nearly 300 pupils aged 11 and under for violence and handed out almost 17,000 suspensions. This means that on any given school day in 2010/11, 90 pupils were ordered out of school for attacking a member of staff or fellow pupil. Primaries were forced to bar pupils more than 10,000 times for persistent disruption in lessons and 6,390 times for verbal abuse. Hundreds more pupils were sent home for other serious breaches of school rules such as bullying, racist abuse, sexual misconduct, theft, drugs or alcohol offences and damage to property. Figures show that the proportion of youngsters ordered out of school for breaking the rules rose last year in almost every primary age group. A breakdown issued by the Department for Education shows that while the number of secondary pupils being suspended or expelled is falling, there is a worsening picture at primary level - especially in the most affluent parts of the country.
Education	The Daily Mail July 26 2012



Michael Cove's distribution of copies of the King James Bible to schools nationwide, which took place late May, has been supported by Richard Dawkins. Many have said the idea is insensitive to the fact schools are becoming increasingly multi-faith. The Department for Education says the Bibles impact on history and culture today makes it a worthy addition to a school library. Dawkins agreed.
Education	Christian Today Evangelicals Now July 2012



A wave of 2000 new summer schools will put 65000 disadvantaged children in an ‘equal footing’ with their peers Nick Clegg said today. The Deputy Prime Minister who announced plans for the two-week ‘brain training’ camps across England last year said the initiative would allow struggling pupils leaving primary school to ‘get to grips’ with life at secondary level.
Education	The Sentinel – 23rd July 2012



Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has reacted angrily to Michael Gove’s plan to scrap GCSE’s in England, saying they would create a ‘two-tier system’. Mr Clegg said the Education Secretary’s proposal was ‘self-evidently not policy that has been discussed and agreed within the coalition’. Mr Gove wants to bring back a system similar to the O-levels with CSE’s for less able pupils. He later told MP’s the current system was letting children down.
Education	The Sentinel – 22nd June 2012



Children who struggle in the three Rs at a young age will be clearly identified as part of a significant overhaul of the primary school curriculum, it has emerged. A shake-up of assessments for five to 11 year-olds would ensure schools are "identifying those who are falling below national expectations", the Government said. The existing system, which places pupils in different "levels" during primary education, will be scrapped. For the first time, the new approach may lead to pupils being assigned a "pass" or "fail" at the end of each year. In formal end-of-primary Sats exams, chil¬dren may be given GCSE-style grades. Teaching unions warned that the reforms failed to take account of the different speeds at which young children develop, with fears that summer-born pupils could be left behind.
Education	The Daily Telegraph June 12 2012



Small specialist colleges will be given new powers to become universities in the biggest expansion of higher education in 20 years, it was disclosed yesterday. Institutions with just 1,000 students - including 750 taking degree courses - will be able to win the right to full university status under new plans, the Government announced. Previously, colleges could only apply for the title if they had at least 4,000 students, with 3,000 taking degrees.
Education	The Daily Telegraph June 12 2012



Tens of thousands of teachers will be forced back to the classroom to study grammar and maths because they lack the knowledge to deliver tough new primary school lessons. Ministers yesterday unveiled an overhaul of England's 'substandard' primary curriculum in an attempt to reverse more than a decade of dumbing down. English lessons will contain tougher grammar and spelling, while maths classes will put greater emphasis on times tables, fractions, mental arithmetic and long division. But experts warn many teachers will need intensive retraining to deliver the new lessons. A requirement on schools to teach a foreign language to all seven to 11-year-olds will entail even more extra lessons. Under a proposed new curriculum for English, pupils as young as seven will be introduced to conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs and subordinate clauses.
Education	The Daily Mail June 12 2012



A £1 billion programme of British aid for education in three east African countries has failed to teach basic reading, writing and maths skills to most of the children involved, an independent report found today. It warned that ‘inadequate attention’ was paid to the quality of education provided by the schemes in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania and urged the Department for International Development to revise its strategy.
Education	The Sentinel – 18th May 2012

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