It’s over 5 years now since Michael Gove’s decision to bow to his critics and retain GCSEs. But despite this humiliating reversal, Gove, who had arrogantly lectured the education establishment on the need to introduce new English Baccalaureate certificates in key subjects, still managed to impose his educational priorities and undermine much of what was […]
Last week Education Datalab published worrying statistics on the number of school students who had been taken off roll and failed to take their GCSEs – some 22 000 more would have been eligible for post-16 study this year. https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2018/06/whos-left-2018-part-one-the-main-findings/ Yet while young people may finish their mainstream secondary schooling at the end of year […]
For many people, increases in education provision and education performance have contributed to a growth in economic productivity – the increased output per worker. But it’s the level of investment in physical rather than human capital that’s more important. From the mid-20th century, for example, the ‘Fordist’ production line increased output and reduced prices, but […]
Last week’s TUC report Stuck at the start provides clear evidence of the difficulties facing young workers. For example: • 40 per cent of workers on agency contracts or in casual work are aged 16-24 and 36 per cent of workers on zero-hours contracts are aged under 25. • Three fifths of younger workers are in […]
Post-war economists considered education a ‘public’ but also an individual ‘merit good’ benefitting both society and the individual. Indeed, like the National Health Service, education reforms were a key part of the welfare state. Educational reformers have continued to operate with these assumptions, but in other respects, education and the NHS are very different. Devoting […]
