A survey by the University of Cambridge international examinations has revealed that a very high percentage of students are highly critical of the standard of education they received in secondary school.  Although they may have achieved the correct “A” level grade the depth of learning is inadequate to support  them fully for the step up to degree level education.

A total of 94% of students said that their secondary education could have been better matched to the needs of university study.  A significant clear gap emerged in their ability to conduct independent research and their report writing skills were not matched to the requirement demanded in university. This  implies  our teaching resources are concentrating more on achieving targets measured by the number of “A” levels gained and failing to give students the depth of learning that best prepares them for the next stage in their educational journey.

The concern is not new.  There have been many criticisms levelled by captains of industry that many children finishing secondary school are ill prepared for the employment market.  They complain they inherit the burden of completing the education of new recruits to the standard  required in industry.  The same issue cascades through the schooling process. Secondary school head teachers are predominately critical of the standard of children leaving primary school that subsequently places an often insurmountable liability on the secondary school  to support the pupil properly.

It must surely lie with the next level in the educational journey to influence the quality of candidates which they are accepting. Ideally secondary head teachers should have responsibility for setting the curriculum and tests taken by primary school pupils to ensure they have the right qualities and educational grounding needed to support them during throughout secondary education.  Similarly industry must take a more positive role in setting the standards they require from secondary school leavers. This has to involve a form of steaming that will predict the likely choice of a student at 15 years old.  Lastly, universities must be responsible for setting the curriculum and standards of exam that prepares students adequately to fulfil the studies required at degree level.

But we are no alone.  A report by the U.S. Department of Defense estimates up to 75 per cent of service applicants are currently unsuitable to join the military due to poor educational achievement. Clearly the future national defence of the USA is causing cause for concern. The report also states one in six young adults in Nebraska (for example) does not graduate from high school on time. Of those seeking to enlist 15 per cent are rejected due to low scores for maths, literacy and problem solving.

Could a fundamental change in educational strategy stand a chance in the current thinking of government circles?  It would remove undue emphasis on passing exams to hit targets and place greater weight on the needs of the subsequent stage in the educational journey. Perhaps more importantly it would involve teachers in the fundamental selection and complexity of the curriculum. It could then remove the pointless exercise of feeding secondary schools with children ill equipped during primary school who subsequently fail to thrive during secondary school.  The current system may appear to tick all the right boxes in exam results key performance indicators but finds little support in commerce, further education and ultimately employers.

Keen2learn

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Tags: secondary education

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 at 10:33 am and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.