Comments on: Ladders and greasy poles http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/ Conservative Party Candidate for Wokingham Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:12:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: adam http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30571 adam Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:30:34 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30571 good post good post

]]> By: adam http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30570 adam Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:29:29 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30570 you live in lalaland. dont believe UNICEF you live in lalaland.
dont believe UNICEF

]]> By: Robbie http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30553 Robbie Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:50:46 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30553 I come from a working class background and a broken family (my father left home when I was seven years old and we were left very poor). I studied hard and went on to study mathematics at Oxford and a computer science masters degree at Cambridge. This was twelve years ago. I never once felt that either of these institutions were biased against people from a poor background in any way. The dons admired anyone who took a great interest in learning and worked hard. Yet another expensive box ticking agency counting numbers of poor students making it to university, crying foul and then forcing numbers through by positive discrimination is not the solution, but it wouldn't surprise me if we ended up with it. I come from a working class background and a broken family (my father left home when I was seven years old and we were left very poor).

I studied hard and went on to study mathematics at Oxford and a computer science masters degree at Cambridge. This was twelve years ago. I never once felt that either of these institutions were biased against people from a poor background in any way. The dons admired anyone who took a great interest in learning and worked hard.

Yet another expensive box ticking agency counting numbers of poor students making it to university, crying foul and then forcing numbers through by positive discrimination is not the solution, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we ended up with it.

]]> By: Bazman http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30523 Bazman Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:33:05 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30523 Kings, castles and dirty rascals. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/11/recession-protest A political elite mesmerised or brought up in great wealth putting forward policies that will have little or no impact on their personal lives. Not everyone can be a rocket scientist, self employed or a big boss. The size of the underclass in Britain is a scandal they just grab and do what they like as that is what a lot of the middle classes do. Self respect? It's over rated. Kings, castles and dirty rascals.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/11/recession-protest

A political elite mesmerised or brought up in great wealth putting forward policies that will have little or no impact on their personal lives.
Not everyone can be a rocket scientist, self employed or a big boss. The size of the underclass in Britain is a scandal they just grab and do what they like as that is what a lot of the middle classes do.
Self respect? It’s over rated.

]]> By: Jack Maturin http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30515 Jack Maturin Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:09:02 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30515 I think a lot of people who pay for private education are under the mistaken impression that it 'gives children confidence'. I think this is the wrong way round. As someone who survived a ghastly northern comprehensive, it's more that state schools 'destroy your confidence'. What private schools do is to 'preserve' the confidence of children, that already pre-exists, and which children already possess from a pre-school age. As we can see from the latest horrible state teaching adverts, the message from Whitehall is that they would like the following sorts of applicants: Morons, busy bodies, and control freaks - preferably all three in one package, if they can get it. The only way to survive in a state school is to obey, conform, and become part of the group. Peer pressure isolates non-conformist individuals and then crushes them; teachers practice crowd-control rather than individual teaching; and the general run-down condition of most state schools encourages an atmosphere of inevitable despair, anger, and frustration. Privatising them all is the only really answer. We must get the government out of our schools completely. Anything else is just re-arranging deck chairs. I think a lot of people who pay for private education are under the mistaken impression that it ‘gives children confidence’. I think this is the wrong way round. As someone who survived a ghastly northern comprehensive, it’s more that state schools ‘destroy your confidence’.
What private schools do is to ‘preserve’ the confidence of children, that already pre-exists, and which children already possess from a pre-school age.
As we can see from the latest horrible state teaching adverts, the message from Whitehall is that they would like the following sorts of applicants: Morons, busy bodies, and control freaks – preferably all three in one package, if they can get it.
The only way to survive in a state school is to obey, conform, and become part of the group. Peer pressure isolates non-conformist individuals and then crushes them; teachers practice crowd-control rather than individual teaching; and the general run-down condition of most state schools encourages an atmosphere of inevitable despair, anger, and frustration.
Privatising them all is the only really answer. We must get the government out of our schools completely. Anything else is just re-arranging deck chairs.

]]> By: FatBigot http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30511 FatBigot Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:43:27 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30511 Let me hazard a guess at what Mr Milburn and his merry men will say. It is hard to believe that this new super-quango will be concerned with the real issues identified in your piece, Mr Redwood, and in many of the comments. To do so would be to seek to assess the last 11 years of government education policy. That cannot be his task. He cannot have been appointed with a view to saying his old friend Tony and his new friend Gordon have presided over a disaster. My guess is that they will look at the professions themselves rather than at the quality of those aspiring to enter them. We can expect targets and regulation, forms, more forms and new local quangos to investigate and report on how well firms of solicitors, accountants and architects are conforming to the new regime. The sad thing about it is that some young people will be taken on in professional practices despite not having the skills and motivation to do the work to a decent standard. They will not benefit and nor will the firms, but an annual appraisal form will include a tick in the box marked "diversity" or is it "inclusion" or is it "social justice"? Even sadder is that those very same young people might well have been able to cope had they received a strong academic education of the type you and I, and many thousands of others, received despite coming from homes of very modest means. Let me hazard a guess at what Mr Milburn and his merry men will say.

It is hard to believe that this new super-quango will be concerned with the real issues identified in your piece, Mr Redwood, and in many of the comments. To do so would be to seek to assess the last 11 years of government education policy. That cannot be his task. He cannot have been appointed with a view to saying his old friend Tony and his new friend Gordon have presided over a disaster.

My guess is that they will look at the professions themselves rather than at the quality of those aspiring to enter them. We can expect targets and regulation, forms, more forms and new local quangos to investigate and report on how well firms of solicitors, accountants and architects are conforming to the new regime.

The sad thing about it is that some young people will be taken on in professional practices despite not having the skills and motivation to do the work to a decent standard. They will not benefit and nor will the firms, but an annual appraisal form will include a tick in the box marked “diversity” or is it “inclusion” or is it “social justice”?

Even sadder is that those very same young people might well have been able to cope had they received a strong academic education of the type you and I, and many thousands of others, received despite coming from homes of very modest means.

]]> By: no one http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30509 no one Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:45:23 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30509 ramping up the quality of schools on the worst public housing and inner city areas would be one of the best ways of encouraging some "good" in our society, and allowing poor kids to be funded through university without having to take out loans, sadly despite the rhetoric these schools remain terrible for many reasons, one such reason being if you were a half decent teacher would you work there? no didn't think you would public schools do put a positive spin on things which in a state school would be frowned upon, you only have to read Ranulph Fiennes autobiography to know that in a public school climbing the highest school roofs can lead to a career as an army officer and climber, the very clever kids at my school with similar talent for climbing the highest roofs were ARRESTED - there you see in one simple example how life is so different for both sets of kids I don't subscribe to the Michael Rose sentiments that "the reason so many senior military officers are ex public schools is because those schools produce the best leaders" clap trap either, on the contrary mostly useless public school officers are carried by hard working ex state kids around them, and they only do well due to the network they get, and the self selecting perceptions of the idiots higher up the selection at state schools by postcode rather than ability is the worst of all worlds, you get in the best state schools because your pushy parents can afford more expensive housing, this is the most damaging form of selection imaginable I've had public school folk and Oxbridge grads work for me many times, never been impressed really, but I certainly offered them more impartial and balanced opportunities than they (as a group on average) offer folk with my accent one of the best parts of working in the USA was the most senior management would not instantly judge you on your accent, they just didn't understand the significance, and rather they judged folk on substance rather than presentation - the sooner the UK move to that the better - for out current default often subconscious approach is very weak and bad for us all not many working class accents amongst Conservative MP's or front benchers, does not give the impression much of this is going to be helped by Conservatives, when really the party should empower folk from the worst estates as Mrs T did! these issues and more need sorting ramping up the quality of schools on the worst public housing and inner city areas would be one of the best ways of encouraging some “good” in our society, and allowing poor kids to be funded through university without having to take out loans, sadly despite the rhetoric these schools remain terrible for many reasons, one such reason being if you were a half decent teacher would you work there? no didn’t think you would
public schools do put a positive spin on things which in a state school would be frowned upon, you only have to read Ranulph Fiennes autobiography to know that in a public school climbing the highest school roofs can lead to a career as an army officer and climber, the very clever kids at my school with similar talent for climbing the highest roofs were ARRESTED – there you see in one simple example how life is so different for both sets of kids
I don’t subscribe to the Michael Rose sentiments that “the reason so many senior military officers are ex public schools is because those schools produce the best leaders” clap trap either, on the contrary mostly useless public school officers are carried by hard working ex state kids around them, and they only do well due to the network they get, and the self selecting perceptions of the idiots higher up
the selection at state schools by postcode rather than ability is the worst of all worlds, you get in the best state schools because your pushy parents can afford more expensive housing, this is the most damaging form of selection imaginable
I’ve had public school folk and Oxbridge grads work for me many times, never been impressed really, but I certainly offered them more impartial and balanced opportunities than they (as a group on average) offer folk with my accent
one of the best parts of working in the USA was the most senior management would not instantly judge you on your accent, they just didn’t understand the significance, and rather they judged folk on substance rather than presentation – the sooner the UK move to that the better – for out current default often subconscious approach is very weak and bad for us all
not many working class accents amongst Conservative MP’s or front benchers, does not give the impression much of this is going to be helped by Conservatives, when really the party should empower folk from the worst estates as Mrs T did!
these issues and more need sorting

]]> By: Simon http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30502 Simon Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:42:12 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30502 From what I see any spark of individual thought is crushed in State Schools, any sign of self confidence is undermined and a general culture of total control exists. Teachers make only negative comments on those ghastly diaries and nit pick the slightest thing that could be described as bad behaviour. Children are thrown out of schools at unprecedented rates for the slightest misdemeanour. All part of the general demonisation of young people in this country as described in reports from UNICEF, The Princes Trust and Barnardo's, even The One Show did a report on it recently. If you keep telling people they are bad they will certainly prove you right. From what I see any spark of individual thought is crushed in State Schools, any sign of self confidence is undermined and a general culture of total control exists. Teachers make only negative comments on those ghastly diaries and nit pick the slightest thing that could be described as bad behaviour. Children are thrown out of schools at unprecedented rates for the slightest misdemeanour. All part of the general demonisation of young people in this country as described in reports from UNICEF, The Princes Trust and Barnardo’s, even The One Show did a report on it recently. If you keep telling people they are bad they will certainly prove you right.

]]> By: DiscoveredJoys http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30501 DiscoveredJoys Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:37:35 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30501 ...if it is going to take a generation then the sooner we start the better. Grammar schools worked for me and there are almost certainly other ways too - but we know that what we have now (through state provision) is incapable of delivering what is needed. My old grammar school aimed at producing decent, well-educated boys - in that order. I suspect that moral relativism has done more damage than poor factual teaching. You can always look facts up, but finding examples of good grown up behaviour to live up to is a tougher challenge. …if it is going to take a generation then the sooner we start the better.

Grammar schools worked for me and there are almost certainly other ways too – but we know that what we have now (through state provision) is incapable of delivering what is needed.

My old grammar school aimed at producing decent, well-educated boys – in that order. I suspect that moral relativism has done more damage than poor factual teaching. You can always look facts up, but finding examples of good grown up behaviour to live up to is a tougher challenge.

]]> By: THE ESSEX BOYS http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30499 THE ESSEX BOYS Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:17:29 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30499 2 thoughts... 1. INDEPENDENT STYLE EDUCATION...FREE OF CHARGE is the would-be conservative message we've advocated since 2004. Simply put those basics work as Council Estate 'oiks' like ourseves, with backgrounds similar to JR's, can testify. Uniforms, discipline, sports activities and esprit de corps helped give us enjoy more fulfilled lives than our respective supportive parents which was reward enough for them - bless 'em all! The State school system should be modified accordingly instead of trying to drag the independent and grammar schools down to state school levels as seems the ambition of Mr Balls. Believe us, Mr Milburn, as successful businessmen with happy family lives but from poor backgrounds we 4 are living examples of social mobility at its most effective! 2. THE TRADE ROUTE TO BEING YOUR OWN BOSS! We should let youngsters know that one of the best ways to get to run a business and have a successful life is to learn a trade rather than go to Uni like so many others who don't know what they want to do in life. Promote it as the SMART school leavers option! 2 thoughts…

1. INDEPENDENT STYLE EDUCATION…FREE OF CHARGE is the would-be conservative message we’ve advocated since 2004.
Simply put those basics work as Council Estate ‘oiks’ like ourseves, with backgrounds similar to JR’s, can testify.
Uniforms, discipline, sports activities and esprit de corps helped give us enjoy more fulfilled lives than our respective supportive parents which was reward enough for them – bless ‘em all!
The State school system should be modified accordingly instead of trying to drag the independent and grammar schools down to state school levels as seems the ambition of Mr Balls.
Believe us, Mr Milburn, as successful businessmen with happy family lives but from poor backgrounds we 4 are living examples of social mobility at its most effective!

2. THE TRADE ROUTE TO BEING YOUR OWN BOSS! We should let youngsters know that one of the best ways to get to run a business and have a successful life is to learn a trade rather than go to Uni like so many others who don’t know what they want to do in life. Promote it as the SMART school leavers option!

]]> By: Monday’s First Class posts | Letters From A Tory http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30494 Monday’s First Class posts | Letters From A Tory Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:01:13 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30494 [...] John Redwood sets Alan Milburn straight about the task that awaits [...] [...] John Redwood sets Alan Milburn straight about the task that awaits [...]

]]> By: Mark Sullivan http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30490 Mark Sullivan Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:37:20 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30490 Well as a trainee teacher I can only say there is not a lot I can argue with here, but there are a few quotes I might be including in my next essay! p.s. the only caveat I'd have with some of the commentators is that there are a lot of good teachers out there (not all, obviously) but the Ofsted rankings are quite rigorous, & the hours of practice teaching, observations and study at university is also quite a rigorous discipline. It's easy to carp from afar, harder to get involved and do your best to improve things. Well as a trainee teacher I can only say there is not a lot I can argue with here, but there are a few quotes I might be including in my next essay!

p.s. the only caveat I’d have with some of the commentators is that there are a lot of good teachers out there (not all, obviously) but the Ofsted rankings are quite rigorous, & the hours of practice teaching, observations and study at university is also quite a rigorous discipline. It’s easy to carp from afar, harder to get involved and do your best to improve things.

]]> By: alan jutson http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30486 alan jutson Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:27:41 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30486 How true this is in many cases in other areas as well as education. We want a free quote !!!!! We would like your advice !!!!!! We would like your thoughts and ideas !!!! Who do they think pays for all of this ??? The answer: Customers who purchase. No surprise that many shops will go out of business, with many now buying over the web, having first picked the brains of those who have products in their shops. Before someone says well thats business, I know it is, but in time if you take it to its logical conclusion, and we all do as above, you will have no specialist shops left to visit. A retail outlet by definition has more overheads than a warehouse/shed in the middle of a field. Manufacturers should think about this carefully with their pricing structure to the trade, otherwise some market brands may dissapear from the high street altogether. How true this is in many cases in other areas as well as education.

We want a free quote !!!!!
We would like your advice !!!!!!
We would like your thoughts and ideas !!!!

Who do they think pays for all of this ???

The answer: Customers who purchase.

No surprise that many shops will go out of business, with many now buying over the web, having first picked the brains of those who have products in their shops.

Before someone says well thats business, I know it is, but in time if you take it to its logical conclusion, and we all do as above, you will have no specialist shops left to visit.

A retail outlet by definition has more overheads than a warehouse/shed in the middle of a field.

Manufacturers should think about this carefully with their pricing structure to the trade, otherwise some market brands may dissapear from the high street altogether.

]]> By: Jack Maturin http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30483 Jack Maturin Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:29:07 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30483 I would have thought that the route for state schools to become as good as private schools would be fairly obvious, especially to any believer in the free market, and that is to privatise them all. Just think of the enormous flood of resources it would release. We could sack everyone in London picking up a Whitehall handout from the department of education and we could sack every deadbeat skulking inside every local education authority. We would have bad teachers being sacked for incompetence, bad schools being closed down by market forces, and good teachers, good schools, and good education companies flourishing. We would have diversity, scholarly achievement, and a fantastic competitive breeding ground for massive entrepreneurship, all out from under the dead conforming hand of Milburn’s social engineers. Oh, and we could sack Milburn too, which must be a bonus. I would have thought that the route for state schools to become as good as private schools would be fairly obvious, especially to any believer in the free market, and that is to privatise them all.

Just think of the enormous flood of resources it would release. We could sack everyone in London picking up a Whitehall handout from the department of education and we could sack every deadbeat skulking inside every local education authority. We would have bad teachers being sacked for incompetence, bad schools being closed down by market forces, and good teachers, good schools, and good education companies flourishing.

We would have diversity, scholarly achievement, and a fantastic competitive breeding ground for massive entrepreneurship, all out from under the dead conforming hand of Milburn’s social engineers.

Oh, and we could sack Milburn too, which must be a bonus.

]]> By: Stuart Fairney http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30479 Stuart Fairney Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:03:12 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30479 And speaking of the poorly educated propagandist, the choice of the name is perhaps unfortunate since the Czars were not exactly notorious for their commitment to social mobility? And speaking of the poorly educated propagandist, the choice of the name is perhaps unfortunate since the Czars were not exactly notorious for their commitment to social mobility?

]]> By: mikestallard http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30477 mikestallard Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:43:21 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30477 Here are three real monsters for Mr Milburn to slay: 1. Quality of teachers. This is abysmal at the moment in our local school. For a start, any male teacher is, almost by definition, in very grave danger of being seen as a pervert nowadays. Like Scoutmasters, they have all but disappeared in our local Primary Schools. 2. In Secondary Schools, all too often, the stress is on anything but scholarship and love of the subject for itself. Scholarly people, clever people who loved their subject were dismissed in droves when Comprehensive Schools came in. They never have come back. Schools find it very hard to enthuse pupils if the teachers themselves are ignoramuses. 3. Teaching has always been a compact between the teachers and their class. It is a deal that both sides have to accept. That deal is breaking down fast here in our local Comprehensive. People talk about "discipline" and so on. No. A good schooling is a matter of mutual trust and a strong desire to improve and get the best out of people. This, of course, is judged, especially among boys, by competition, public results, and public rewards at the end of a fair testing process. These are pretty well all out of favour at the moment. If Mr Milburn would address even one of these monsters, he would work a miracle. He isn't going to. What I really hope he is not going to do is to introduce some sort of Labour Party Quota system where compliant idiots get their hands on key jobs - much as they have in the Labour party. Obama said: "Yes We Can!" I strongly suspect this is a case of "No You Can't". Here are three real monsters for Mr Milburn to slay:
1. Quality of teachers. This is abysmal at the moment in our local school. For a start, any male teacher is, almost by definition, in very grave danger of being seen as a pervert nowadays. Like Scoutmasters, they have all but disappeared in our local Primary Schools.
2. In Secondary Schools, all too often, the stress is on anything but scholarship and love of the subject for itself. Scholarly people, clever people who loved their subject were dismissed in droves when Comprehensive Schools came in. They never have come back. Schools find it very hard to enthuse pupils if the teachers themselves are ignoramuses.
3. Teaching has always been a compact between the teachers and their class. It is a deal that both sides have to accept. That deal is breaking down fast here in our local Comprehensive. People talk about “discipline” and so on. No. A good schooling is a matter of mutual trust and a strong desire to improve and get the best out of people. This, of course, is judged, especially among boys, by competition, public results, and public rewards at the end of a fair testing process. These are pretty well all out of favour at the moment.
If Mr Milburn would address even one of these monsters, he would work a miracle.
He isn’t going to.
What I really hope he is not going to do is to introduce some sort of Labour Party Quota system where compliant idiots get their hands on key jobs – much as they have in the Labour party.
Obama said: “Yes We Can!”
I strongly suspect this is a case of “No You Can’t”.

]]> By: Jeremy Poynton http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30476 Jeremy Poynton Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:33:30 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30476 Backofanevelope beat me to it; I'm 57, so remember well the three tier higher education system we had in place, CFEs, Polys and Universities. A system which worked well and served the country and those who went through whichever layer well. The disastrous requirement to keep as many kids in secondary education as long as possible and then to put as many of them through the University Of Really Bad Courses & Teachers means we no longer have skilled workforce. Even were this righted overnight, we are still looking at a generation for this to filter through Backofanevelope beat me to it; I’m 57, so remember well the three tier higher education system we had in place, CFEs, Polys and Universities. A system which worked well and served the country and those who went through whichever layer well. The disastrous requirement to keep as many kids in secondary education as long as possible and then to put as many of them through the University Of Really Bad Courses & Teachers means we no longer have skilled workforce.

Even were this righted overnight, we are still looking at a generation for this to filter through

]]> By: john locke http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30474 john locke Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:44:41 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30474 (ooops finger slipped...) .........and state interference and let the teachers give the children a first class education to equip them for the 21st century. (ooops finger slipped…)

………and state interference and let the teachers give the children a first class education to equip them for the 21st century.

]]> By: john locke http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30473 john locke Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:42:42 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30473 When are politicians going to realise it is not a question of public versus state schools. It is a question of good education. If the state school produced the right calibre of student they could just as well lift themselves to any profession/career they wanted. The problem is that this present government has ruined the education system with their endless meddling and lowering of standards, just to enable them the "fix the figures and pretend that today's pupils are brighter than the previous generation under the Tories. I was born in a "prefab" lived all my school days in a council house but with the 11+ was able to receive a great education, and had a happy and enriching career. I was successful enough to retire early from business life, moved abroad and now give something back as a University Professor giving this generation the benefit of my vast experience. I am not interested in which school my students come from, I am only interested in their intelligence and intellectual rigour. It is all down to "educational standards" and I hope the first thing a Conservative government will do is to abolish league tables and the st When are politicians going to realise it is not a question of public versus state schools. It is a question of good education. If the state school produced the right calibre of student they could just as well lift themselves to any profession/career they wanted.

The problem is that this present government has ruined the education system with their endless meddling and lowering of standards, just to enable them the “fix the figures and pretend that today’s pupils are brighter than the previous generation under the Tories.

I was born in a “prefab” lived all my school days in a council house but with the 11+ was able to receive a great education, and had a happy and enriching career. I was successful enough to retire early from business life, moved abroad and now give something back as a University Professor giving this generation the benefit of my vast experience. I am not interested in which school my students come from, I am only interested in their intelligence and intellectual rigour. It is all down to “educational standards” and I hope the first thing a Conservative government will do is to abolish league tables and the st

]]> By: adam http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/12/ladders-and-greasy-poles/#comment-30471 adam Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:49:24 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2589#comment-30471 i think the idea of 50% or 100% going to university is wrong. Fine it pumps more debt into the economy and helps the alcohol industry, but university should be reserved for people who really know what they want to do with their life. i think the idea of 50% or 100% going to university is wrong.
Fine it pumps more debt into the economy and helps the alcohol industry, but university should be reserved for people who really know what they want to do with their life.

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