The Exam Season Arrives

As my son prepares to embark on his GCSE’s, I am compelled to reflect on the best way to educate our children so that they are ready to engage in whatever life has to throw at them.

Traditionally this form of preparation has focused on passing a series of academic exams designed to test whether a 16 year old can remember many facts that he or she will never use again in the real world.

Our current system has moved partially away from this cramming model towards a “coursework”-based system that encourages teenagers to copy each other’s work and, where the teen is likeable, relies heavily on teachers willingness to cut them some slack.

The result – young men and women who are neither fit for the world of work nor for that matter the world of academia.

I am not sure I have the answer but surely it has to be based around a mixture of acadmic work tested under exam conditions combined with work experience (heavily subsidised by the state) aimed at teaching the fundamental essentials of success in the workplace, namely:-

• accuracy;
• time-keeping;
• determination;
• the importance of “paying your dues”
• and so on……………

There is no reason why this work experience should not start once the three R’s have been taught – from the age of 11.