to think that there is no excuse for general ignorance.

[AKMD]

I think we're very lucky to live in a country (if you're in the UK) where it's a legal requirement to be in full-time education until you're 16, where FE is free and you don't have to pay for HE until you have a decent job. Unless someone has SN or another very compelling reason why the education system didn't work for them, I don't see any good reason why people leave school with crap GCSE results and without basic skills in literacy, numeracy and some sort of idea of how the world works. It disgusts me when adults make a show of their ignorance and when bright children are socially excluded, teased or made to feel embarrassed simply for being clever. AIBU to judge wilful ignorance quite harshly?

But do you like the other rounds on QI?

Orm.

YABU for being such a judgeypants. Also for your wilful ignorance of the huge spectrum and variety that makes up other people's circumstances and experiences.

HTH.

I hope your flame proof. Is this a troll?

Perhaps all the people who leave without a decent education do have the "other compelling reasons". Unfortunately, the compelling reasons aren't always obvious - e.g. missing school due to caring responsibilities, missing school because of crap parenting, missing school due to illness.

FWIW, I think that part of your point is the attitude a some people express towards education in this country, and then when you see children in poorer countries expressing a desire to get an education, it's difficult to justify.

In a mainstream school, with support for lower attaining children (and taking SN out of the equation for a moment) I don't think there should be any reason for children not achieving basic literacy and numeracy skills. There are certainly enough initiatives (IME), booster groups, resources to tackle it. (In most schools).

YABU

I agree with your bit about clever children being teased, and also I hate it when people say stuff like "oh! I've never read a book " BUT there are so many reasons why education fails, and "wilful ignorance" is a bit of a weird phrase IMO.

YABU - being able to read and spell hasn't helped you have an 'educated' comprehension of how the 'real world' works......

Being educated is not all about exam results, I left school with some very crappy results in CSE's. I'm not sure if my reason would be compelling enough to meet your criteria of how not to be judged.

Ended up managing businesses and being highly successful in my chosen career and returned to education after that to do a degree.

I think it is not intelligent to ringfence and judge people based on some extremely limited and limiting criteria.

It's been a long time since I heard of the "CSE" exam.

Isn't that equivalent to a first-class degree these days?

What Orm said is what I wanted to say.

AKMD I think you are showing general ignorance if you cannot understand why some people may leave school with no qualifications, therefore YABU.

OK You win So I'm really very very old.

Going against the grain as ever.....YANBU. Ignorance is a fact of life but should not be a badge of honour. No-one should feel the need to play dumb to be accepted. Being competent in basic literacy and numeracy is a fundamental human skill & not the preserve of the academic elite.

If you really "don't see any good reason why people leave school with crap GCSE results and without basic skills in literacy, numeracy and some sort of idea of how the world works" then you need to look into some of the circumstances that children today live in.

If you are a child in a family suffering with real poverty, with substance abuse within the home, with a disabled parent that you spend every waking hour looking after or many other reasons - then there are lots of obstacles in your way to a good education.

I'm a secondary teacher, I think that on a level playing field every child has the opportunity to get a good education in the UK but it is FAR from a level playing field.
If you can't imagine what some of the problems are then I can only assume that you are quite naive to the world around you.

YWOYD

Springy my year was the first to do GCSE instead of CSE / GCE and we couldn't believe how easy they were in comparison.

We are both old

'disgusts' is a strong word and blaming a lack of education on the child isn't good

Really laughing at what ormirian said

I don't understand what ormirian posted?

The general ignorance round is my favorite.

AWinbaWay It's a round on QI.

What's your excuse then, OP? Normally my eyes happily glide over 'self satisfied policing' threads as I don't want to give them the attention they so obviously crave, but I'll wait for an answer.