City & Guilds, a skills charity, has conducted a six-month review of England’s education system, led by an independent advisory group made up of business leaders and chaired by Prof Sir Roy Anderson – a biologist. Their report resulted from a survey of businesses and concluded that the education system is failing to meet the country’s long-term economic needs and requires a radical overhaul.
The Advisory group recommended that a new “cross-party body” should set long-term educational goals protected from the electoral cycle, as well as more emphasis on team working and problem-solving in schools, and a baccalaureate system at A-level. The Department for Education responded that its reforms were equipping pupils for the future.
Olly from PSI: Ironically, what this report does is provide fuel for opposition Parties to call for more education reforms ahead of the next general election. The pressures of the electoral cycle will never be removed from policy making unless people are happy to give up their right to have they say on fundamental political issues, such as education, which seems rather unlikely.
See Secondary School Accountability explained for why the current crop of reforms should be given time to embed…
