Accrington Web - View Single Post - 99% Pass rate?-Are we being fair to our teenagers?

Gordon Booth · 24-08-2010, 19:08

After hundreds of thousands of years of gradual development, the human race has suddenly seen an explosive increase in its intelligence over the last 30 years!
That is what our exam results tell us.Exams have not got easier, we are told by BOTH main parties, so there can only be one answer.
97.6% A level pass rate, 98.7% GCSE pass rate! 27% A grades? These exams have lost their point when virtually everyone passes. Why not just give all our children a pass without the exam then the 1% don't feel left out?
Every child SHOULD have equal opportunity, and ALL children are equal but NOT in the same ways.They all have different strengths and the duty of schools is to show them where those strengths lie. To kid them that most of them should go to University and become doctors, lawyers,city men and be VERY rich is unfair on them. The result is that 150,000 of them now feel cheated out of their rights and many of those who get a degree still can't get a job. Then the mantra that no child should feel a failure ultimately fails itself, in fact this system is generating it.
So no teenager wants to do an ordinary everyday job like most of us did. And yet those jobs are MORE essential to keeping our civilisation going than ALL your fancy lawyers. They may never be as rich, but if that is where their abilities lie, encourage them, dont 'con' them into easy exams which leave them massively in debt and STILL without a job.
Are we not creating a generation of young people many of whom will eventually realise that they were mislead, kidded, conned, lied to and cheated out of a happy life doing what they were best at? And what price will we pay for that?

24-08-2010, 19:08	#1
Gordon Booth Senior Member+ Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 2,402 Liked: 715 times Rep Power: 46614	99% Pass rate?-Are we being fair to our teenagers? After hundreds of thousands of years of gradual development, the human race has suddenly seen an explosive increase in its intelligence over the last 30 years! That is what our exam results tell us.Exams have not got easier, we are told by BOTH main parties, so there can only be one answer. 97.6% A level pass rate, 98.7% GCSE pass rate! 27% A grades? These exams have lost their point when virtually everyone passes. Why not just give all our children a pass without the exam then the 1% don't feel left out? Every child SHOULD have equal opportunity, and ALL children are equal but NOT in the same ways.They all have different strengths and the duty of schools is to show them where those strengths lie. To kid them that most of them should go to University and become doctors, lawyers,city men and be VERY rich is unfair on them. The result is that 150,000 of them now feel cheated out of their rights and many of those who get a degree still can't get a job. Then the mantra that no child should feel a failure ultimately fails itself, in fact this system is generating it. So no teenager wants to do an ordinary everyday job like most of us did. And yet those jobs are MORE essential to keeping our civilisation going than ALL your fancy lawyers. They may never be as rich, but if that is where their abilities lie, encourage them, dont 'con' them into easy exams which leave them massively in debt and STILL without a job. Are we not creating a generation of young people many of whom will eventually realise that they were mislead, kidded, conned, lied to and cheated out of a happy life doing what they were best at? And what price will we pay for that?