Ejookashun, ejukashun, education. Just went to see the film Kidulthood. Tells a story of inner city kids. It was, frankly, scary. Now I think most people who go to see it will probably dismiss it as a bit exagerated....however although it was almost by mistake that I ended up seeing it, it struck a chord. Now I had a private education for the most part and certainly never went to an inner city school. Funnily enough the film was set literally outside my front door and portrayed the school my partner went to. She used to regale me with stories of the goings on, and to tell the truth I thought she was exaggerating......until I met her friends etc and was faced with incontrovertible evidence.

For many years I would pontificate about kids and schools etc without having the slightest clue about what many kids have to go through these days. What is it like to spend your school days literally being frightened for your life? Yes pooh, pooh and all that but what if someone you know is carrying a blade or worse and you know they don't like you? What if there's a group of kids don't like you and set out to make your life hell? I remember when I was at school a girl having her jaw and nose broken by another group of girls and how shocked I was.....it wasn't even at my school, but this kind of thing is commonplace in some schools these days ( or common place just outside the school where it doesn't count then etc). The nastier things are just unbelievable.
It's not just in the school it's what happens between peers outside of school too.

Over the last few years I've increasingly become an advocate of banning private education in some form. I understand that many parents work very hard and feel they have no alternative but to educate their children privately and simply want what's best for them, and I think that's laudable and do not wish to judge them in any form, of course not. The reason my feelings have moved in the way they have is because I can see little alternative in order to create a level playing field and give all kids a chance. We have a suppos-ed labour government screaming about education and investing in kids, and yet what do they do? Send their kids private or wangle them into some top performing school!!! As parents I think that's entirely appropriate. However as politicians it is despicable and what message are they sending?? And this is my point....private schools are a get out clause for those who can afford it and means the rest get left further and further behind. If the people who are meant to be guiding these institutions to a better place are not faced with sending their kids to one, then naturally I think the pressure on them is lessened and thus the issue moves slightly down the agenda.

Let's be honest governemnts have consistently played double standards with education. Not just this government but all recent governemnts in this country. yes more money is being spent now perhaps but on what? On paperwork and bureaucracy for the most part. Teachers are being made increasingly impotent and given less and less leeway in how to teach. Standards are falling -YES they are. Exams are hardly exams any more. TB sets ridiculously high targets for numbers at university and drop out rates are at an all time high with university officials claiming entrants are simply not capable of undertaking the courses. Employers are now saying also that graduates are not of the calibre required.

For me the proof is in the pudding. Teachers hold a crucial place in society, and yet are still underpaid. There's a shortage of teachers, why? Because it's an extremely tough job in what is often a very tricky environment....and for not the greatest rewards. When you are continually being undermined by those who are supposed to support you it is very difficult to do the job for the love of it. My feeling is pay teachers more, have more of them, ensure schools have playing fields etc, make schools safe so have plenty of non-teaching staff around too. Stop the snobbery and understand that different kids have different skillsets. Appreciate those with a less academic skillset as much as those with and offer an education in suitable subjects and strive to ensure that all have a at the very least a minimum standard of reading and writing. As for having schools of excellence...well why not? As long as these a representative across the board - not just for academics.

Once all this is done then start worrying about giving exams to kids in nursery school or plucking some arbitrary number out the clouds for numbers who should be at "university". When I went to University there were polytechnics and tech colleges as well which all produced graduates with differing skill sets, some academic some more pragmatic some vocational etc. All human beings and worthy of respect. To me it was huge snobbery to turn all these different colleges into universities. All had very different functions each equally important. Hey but that's just me, TB obviously felt differently and felt that unless you went to an institution of a certain name and staus and earned a certain amount and wore a white shirt then you were some inferior being. Oh but then he would wouldn't he - after all he benefitted from a private education and is obviously superior.