For centuries, Great Britain had prided
itself on having the finest education system in the world. Since the creation
of our country’s great schools many other nations have attempted to replicate
their success. Further still, the Twentieth Century saw the golden age of
Britain’s education system following the 1944 Education Act. This created a
three-tier system in which students had to sit exams, which gave them entry to
either: a local grammar school, a comprehensive school or a technical school.
Thus children could focus on either academia, or skills relating to blue-collar
work. It took advantage of the needs of each individual student. This created a
system based on meritocracy – children of varying abilities could flourish
under an environment tailored to their intellectual needs. However, since
Blarite politics has been swamping the political establishment over the past
two decades, our education system has been sabotaged by the Left’s calls for ‘equality’.
All this has done is handicap the chances student’s achieving success, while
also putting a greater strain on our schools. After working in a typical
British comprehensive school for a year, I was able to see these disastrous
effects first hand.
One issue regarding many of Britain’s
schools currently is the quality of the staff. In previous years, to be a
teacher was a full time role. Much like being in the forces, a real sense of
duty was to be had. In recent years however, teaching has become an easy way
out for many. In light of Blair’s ‘education, education, education’ dogma that
proved to be complete nonsense, far too many people have gone to university in
recent years. He called for fifty per cent of school leavers to go onto further
education. As this has saturated the job market, many people have gone into
teaching because they are unable to do anything else. Indeed, “for those who cannot do, teach.” The
academic capability of many staff in the average British school now is truly
appalling. And this reflects on the students of the schools, as they are not
exposed to free, open discussion, debates, or anything regarding culture and
society. Instead they are subjected to individuals who are simply in teaching
as a career that offers an easy ride. The way in which this can be rectified is
simple. Teaching needs to attract the right people. While it currently attracts
people who are afraid of the real world (and thus want to return to school
because they are lazy) teaching desperately needs to attract bona fide
academics and sports people. This means that schools need to make it more an
attractive, lucrative career for prospective teachers. Schools need to become
more independent from big government so that they can then do this. If a school
is able to run itself, it will create a far more competitive environment
enabling staff and students to flourish. It will therefore attract a more
colourful group of people.
Another major flaw regarding our
education system is, again, due to the people it attracts. The vast majority of
schools have a lot more female staff within their faculty than men. Now before
the ‘sexism’ card is undeniably raised there is a point to this. I have met
many talented and engaging female teachers. But having too many female staff in
a school gives a very impartial view to students. The worst aspect of all is
for the male students, and even staff. As a workplace, schools have become
overly feminised. Boys have very few if any role models to look up to, while
male teachers often have to tread on eggshells due to the nature of having to
work with so many women. As I saw in my time as a teacher, many male members of
staff themselves became extremely effeminate. This can and does have a dire
impact on many male students. Without a male role model, boys become
disillusioned with school and do not know how to socialise and to interact with
others. On the other hand, female students are often pandered to, and then find
the harsh realities of life outside of school difficult to cope with. For this
to change, teaching has to cease to be seen as being an effeminate career. It
needs to attract more prospective male teachers by making the education system
equally as masculine as it is feminine. A prime example of this is how physical
education us carried out in our schools.
At the school I worked at, there were two
male teachers in the physical education department. Both of them were out of
shape, and worse still, they were only pushing thirty. And this is not unheard
of in many state schools across the country. Two, unfit men where ‘qualified’
to teach students about the importance of fitness, health and how sports could
enrich ones life. However, many students at the school that I worked at were
also unfit, and did not respect the importance of exercise. This was due to the
current nature of physical education. It has become stagnant, lethargic and
wet. This is incredibly damaging for future generations. Exercise should be of
a critical importance within our education system. It should not just be
prancing about in a field once a week for an hour, which is what it is at most
schools. Physical education is needed to teach students the importance of
perseverance, strength, competitiveness, along with both mental and physical
toughness. But this will not be possible if students are being taught by staff
who themselves show disdain for any real exercise. Our educated system insists
on staff being qualified via the massively flawed teacher training schemes, but
this prevents the right people from becoming PE teachers and sports coaches in
our schools. The solution should be allowing former professional and talented
athletes to teach in our schools without the necessary “qualifications”. I was
lucky enough to attend an independent school that did not suffer from
government interference. This meant that I was coached and taught by talented
athletes and former professional sportsmen. This allowed me to learn about the
importance of physical health from engaging teachers who could show me a real
insight into how sports and exercise could enrich one’s life. This will sadly
not be possible however as long as the long claws of bureaucracy are deeply
embedded into our country’s schools.
To become a teacher in this country in a
comprehensive school, all teachers must undergo teacher training. This is a
classic example of big government with a political agenda. Whilst its idea
initially was in good taste, to professionalise teaching, it has instead
undermined it considerably. Now teachers are told to use a very delicate
approach regarding discipline. This means that teachers are not able to act
with conviction in the classroom, as they were once able to in years gone by.
Albeit, while corporal punishment was extreme and rightly banned, teachers now
lack authority in the classroom. They have to undergo tedious procedures in
order to reprimand students, purely in order watch both their own back, and the
school’s. This results in the student often only be given a very trivial
punishment. This only teaches students bad habits for when they go into the
real world, where many will go on to struggle in the work place. Further still,
when the government does attempt to make any real changes, the omniscient
teachers’ unions often prevent any positive changes. To rectify the issues of
big government and union bureaucracy therefore, two changes need to be done.
Schools need to become more independent, as they have started to with the
introduction of academies. Secondly, the power of the trade unions needs to be
stripped back. The teaching unions have since become vast bodies of whinging,
lazy left wingers who deem their six hour days to be far too strenuous. While
people have a right to a trade union, their political agendas need to be booted
out of our classrooms to allow for prosperity within our education sector.
Naturally, now that teaching attracts
some of the laziest graduates that we have seen in decades, our schools lack
one very critical quality. That quality is ambition. Now that few children are
able to get the opportunity to go to a grammar school, children of varying
capabilities have to endure the same lessons. Whilst forty years ago the
prospective electrician would go to the technical college and the talented
scientist would go to the local grammar school, these opportunities have been demolished
by the progressive Left. By abandoning the selective processes of our education
system, children are no longer able to study with like-minded individuals.
Currently, a bright student will have to put up with a dumbed down lesson, so
that their less capable classmates will be able to keep up. All this is doing
is not only lowering the potential grades of students, but it is also killing
opportunity. What use is a GCSE in English literature to a student who is
planning on doing a carpentry apprenticeship? All this results in is increased
boredom for both sides – the academically capable are not stimulated by their
school’s curriculum whilst those more inclined to physical activities and
ventures become restless and unruly. The only solution to this would be to
abandon the absurd notion of the Left; that meritocracy is against equality,
and to reintroduce the three-tier system.
After witnessing these issues first hand,
I realised that for the most part, any sane person would not be able to work in
the field of education. As long as meritocracy is shunned, big government is
embraced and the system continues to be feminised, we will continue to witness
the demise of our once internationally renowned education system. Again,
whether or not there will be any real change comes down to the current
political climate. One of the first things that Theresa May has stated since
coming into office is that she wants to look into the return of grammar schools
– so perhaps there is some optimism to be had. Despite this, it will take years
to unwind the damage that has been inflicted onto our schools. As ever, there
will be numerous calls from the Left to prevent any positive change, the
feminists will scream in horror at the idea of an increased masculine presence
in our schools and the bureaucracies of government will not give in without a fight.
But as the pendulum of the political spectrum is due to swing back to the
Right, changes ought to come sooner rather than later.
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