| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re Brillian article - | |
| Posted by: | Michael Daley | |
| Date/Time: | 11/11/10 19:30:00 |
In reply to Jackie: Thank you for taking the time to expand on your original post. I am thinking specifically of 1972 when my father announced I was on my own and he wasn’t applying for anything. So I am very sympathetic to the views and observations you make. I am particularly sensitive, as a technical grammar school boy (incidentally one of the very first computer scientists) that secondary modern children got a raw deal. Unfortunately politicians decided not to improve their prospects (as you indicate many, if not most, worked hard at school only to be removed from the system prematurely) but to remove the most important vehicle of social, and economic, mobility instead. My tongue-in- cheek reference to geniuses does, of course, refer to the fraudulent dumbing- down of both syllabuses and pass marks. Employers know that we are not producing as many “educated” pupils as we should and shamefully politicians confirm this is not the case, while sending their own children to the haven of the private sector. I agree wholeheartedly that the quality of teacher is key to outcomes and one only has to look at the private sector to confirm this is the case. We have world-class educators, and are ranked world-class in education provision, until that is you look at the state proposition where we have one of the largest incidences of underperformance across sectors (or so we are told). There is something in state provision that undermines the outcome and we need to address that. The emphasis has been placed on producing vast numbers of graduates many of whom subsequently are puzzled as to why their careers fail to develop as they had planned. Do we really need nurses or indeed social workers with degrees? I suspect the qualities you refer to (character; strength of mind; deep understanding of how to get along with; control (as defined) etc) are what we are looking for, not a degree of dubious quality acting as the “gatekeeping” barrier to career entry and progression. Finally, tax. Rather like capital, talent will tend to gravitate to where the best prospective outcome is believed to exist. Education creates mobility and we need as a nation to encourage those who can create wealth to remain here and share their genius with us. Politicians can’t quite grasp that (which is surprising given their almost universal educational advantages) people can do the sums and sometimes e.g. the US or Australia looks a better outcome for young people of talent. We must act to reduce the incentives to go by making the UK an attractive place to work and succeed; for rather like our corporations (one- by- one leaving the UK and hence loading the taxes on individuals who fail to move with them) sooner, or later, unless we retain our best people we will commence an irreversible decline leading to a multitude of problems of unimaginable scale. |