.. one thing you cannot deny is that at least 's trying to improve standards.
But saying "I want all schools to be like private ones' is a) unrealistic and b) fatuous (I'd far rather my DC went to their outstanding comp than the next nearest indy, thanks!).
.. The main problem we have is too many people don't think getting an education is important..... The passion for education begins at home.
Indeed, which is why piling pressure on schools won't change diddly-squat. The issues they face are not educational, they're societal. This 'problem' had its roots in the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent ongoing relocation (and destruction) of our manufacturing industries (looking at you, Mrs T); and the different skilling required by our now service-based economy over our heavy engineering and manual laboured past. When I was 11 (1973) a DC could and did land a decent, respectable apprenticeship and a 'job for life' with a couple of CSEs. One's parents didn't have to 'get involved' at all. Nowadays, I doubt you'd be looked at for a City & Guilds with less than an EBacc, and frankly, this qualification measure is beyond a lot of parents who were never required to know that sort of thing; it wasn't 'for the likes of them'.
Along with the destruction of industry came mass unemployment and welfare dependency. Nothing like enough was done to help, encourage and persuade entire swathes of the country to reskill; there was all but no investment in alternative forms of employment (apart from the famous 'get on yer bike') and yes, a certain mindset did go 'Eff this, they don't care about me and mine so they can shove it' thus disengaged from what 'they' dictated, like education or the need to find employment. And of course, yes, DC from more engaged backgrounds did have to sit in the same shambolic, low-aspirational SM classes as the disenfranchised as all underwent daft 1970 educational experimentation. These DC now have DC of their own. They don't so much 'not care' about education, they don't really know where to begin. A government serious about this would start at the beginning: yes, tighten up welfare dependency but pay a living wage to workers- when you're in the situation where a semi-skilled full time worker still relies on HB to help with his state rental costs, you've got a -ahem- fatcat (Tory voting, perchance?) employer trousering the difference.
What happened to SureStart?
And yes, I recognise that the Benefits Boom of the past 20 odd years has 'encouraged' the growth of a certain group of the population who have maybe been rather fast and loose with the idea that they need never work, or try, or engage, but I bet that number is significantly smaller than the Tories want us to believe. It was just believed that paying out benefits (when we could afford them) was cheaper than paying out the Big Money in mass reskilling and encouraging investment in depressed areas. And the new benefits squeeze will reduce their numbers over the next 20 years.
State schools, unlike private schools, have by law to educate all-comers. The way a private school can 'deal with' its disruptive and yes, less intelligent is to kick them out. Exclusions are a Black Mark on a state school's books.
... I don't like all his proposals but I appreciate that he's at least trying. But sometimes it seems like he's the only one trying to turn the oil tanker heading for an iceberg - yes he's 'trying' alright! But I am dismayed at his pig-headedness, his utter inability to countenance views other than those of his yes-man brigade, to discount decades of evidence-based educational theory, proven or not; his inability to understand that one-size-cannot-fit-all (I'd chuck in here that an awful lot of private schools have the luxury of only selecting that 'one-size' to educate! Lucky them).
... Because the reality is that the Asian nations are kicking our arses. Their economies are growing at a pace we can only dream of. Their kids are studying harder, longer and graduating with better qualifications. They're taught to study hard then work hard.... come back in 20 years with that, would you? Our economy grew at a kick-arse pace, too, I recall- and look where it is now! Any idea what the suicide rate is in some of these wonder-economies? And what happens to those who, with the best will in the world, cannot 'keep up'? And, thing is, I don't take too much notice of these International League Tables because they do not compare like with like. They appear to compare the ability to memorise a log table with the ability to use one. Very different skills.
It's my belief that the woollier ability to assess and use knowledge rather than learn knowledge will forward the cause of mankind to a far greater extent! Our education system champions the former, by and large.
More Latin, anyone?