Why

Education meetings in London

The P E R Group stage five or six meetings in London every year. They include formal lectures, seminars and discussion meetings. After the initial presentation the audience fill in “burning issue” slips which ask “What is the burning issue which emerges from the speakers presentation?”. These are then used to start general discussion.
Renew education today!

An improved approach is essential

The UK Education system costs about £40 billion per year, and yet the government themselves admit that about half the school leavers each year leave with so-called ‘qualifications’ which are not worth the paper they are printed on. But this is not the half of it. Because it is now normal to “teach to the test” and use cramming methods, most of those with so-called ‘serious qualifications’ have forgotten most of what they “mugged up” a month after the exam. This is supposed to be a preparation for the ‘knowledge economy’. 
A boy raising his hands

What can be done?

The examination system is still looking for signs that the candidates can recall information bites prompted by standard questions. This invites parrot learning or learning with the flimsiest comprehension. An overhaul of the examination system is urgently required to ensure that it picks up permanent rather than transient capabilities.
pencil

Teaching for the exam

Nowadays teachers often refuse to answer questions in class which “are not in the syllabus”. This is anti-educational. The aim of education must be to broaden the mind of the student, not to constrict it. In today’s world it is the big picture which everyone needs to know: detail can be got from experts or the internet. It is curiosity which is needed by employers, not closed mindsets.

Campaigning is going to be necessary

The examination system will only change if they are instructed to put their house in order by the government. The examination system is the tail which is wagging the dog of education. This is negating the whole system. We need an education system which correctly diagnoses each student’s capability, because there are thousands of different kinds of capability, and thousands of different career paths.

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