I was so disappointed this week to see the downgrading of vocational subjects vs academic. I thought this debate was over with the introduction of the specialist diplomas some years ago. They have finally started to produce results and businesses have committed to them in sponsorship and, this week, they received a blow to the heart by the education minister for the silliest of reasons.
It has always been ridiculous to suppose all students will want or need a full range of academic results. For years this outmoded focus left a whole section of our young disenchanted and forgotten. It also left our manufacturing and service industries with a severe shortfall in employees.
After years of lobbying, the Labour government were very brave in introducing the specialist diplomas that recognised this fact. They were difficult to organise but have been introduced and have given more heart to our youngsters who do not and never have wanted to peruse a wholly academic route.
The courses are rigorous and have been recognised by a number of industry groups. Due to the straight jacket nature of qualifications in this country they were allocated GCSE equivalents to give them added recognition. So this week what does the minister decide to do... downgrade most of them to a lower qualification. The reason - that it is suspected that some schools are using them to bolster GCSE results and therefore their position in the league tables - What!
It is obvious that the current minister is old school - focusing on academic achievement rather than the needs of our society (yes we do need plumbers, electricians and, dare I say, hairdressers!) and the wants of our youngsters. Who do not want to go to university - see little point in GCSE History and Geography and want to learn a trade.
The mix of students wanting to study academic vs vocational will be different between different schools and surely a school that meets both requirements should be recognised through the league tables.
In fact if they want to differentiate why not have two ratings one for vocational achievement and one for academic rather than down grade the vocational for such a spurious reason. Parents might want to know which schools do well in vocational studies as part of their decision-making.
What is this action saying to our young people - especially those in the middle of studying under the new diplomas - it must be highly demotivating.
It has always been ridiculous to suppose all students will want or need a full range of academic results. For years this outmoded focus left a whole section of our young disenchanted and forgotten. It also left our manufacturing and service industries with a severe shortfall in employees.
After years of lobbying, the Labour government were very brave in introducing the specialist diplomas that recognised this fact. They were difficult to organise but have been introduced and have given more heart to our youngsters who do not and never have wanted to peruse a wholly academic route.
The courses are rigorous and have been recognised by a number of industry groups. Due to the straight jacket nature of qualifications in this country they were allocated GCSE equivalents to give them added recognition. So this week what does the minister decide to do... downgrade most of them to a lower qualification. The reason - that it is suspected that some schools are using them to bolster GCSE results and therefore their position in the league tables - What!
It is obvious that the current minister is old school - focusing on academic achievement rather than the needs of our society (yes we do need plumbers, electricians and, dare I say, hairdressers!) and the wants of our youngsters. Who do not want to go to university - see little point in GCSE History and Geography and want to learn a trade.
The mix of students wanting to study academic vs vocational will be different between different schools and surely a school that meets both requirements should be recognised through the league tables.
In fact if they want to differentiate why not have two ratings one for vocational achievement and one for academic rather than down grade the vocational for such a spurious reason. Parents might want to know which schools do well in vocational studies as part of their decision-making.
What is this action saying to our young people - especially those in the middle of studying under the new diplomas - it must be highly demotivating.
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