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 No. 7 - A Lesson in English (2) (updated 4th May‘05)

Dictionary Definitions - Academy -1. a place of study or training in a special field (military academy: academy of dance)  - 2. A society or institution of distinguished scholars, artists, scientists, etc. (Royal Academy) 3. A secondary school, (especially in the United States), a private one.

Comprehensive - adj.& n.
Adjective 1. Complete: including all or nearly all elements, aspects, etc. (a comprehensive grasp of the subject). 2. of or relating to understanding (the comprehensive faculty). 3. (of motor vehicle insurance) providing complete protection.
Noun (in full comprehensive school)  Brit. A secondary school catering for children of all abilities from a given area.

Grammar school n. 1. Brit. esp. hist. A selective state secondary school with a mainly academic curriculum.  2. Brit. hist. A school founded in or before the 16th c. For teaching Latin, later becoming a secondary school teaching academic subjects.
3. US = Elementary School

Excerpts from the Oxford English Dictionary - 9th Edition  - Ed. Della Thompson

The Labour Party opposed the Grammar School in favour of the Comprehensive School.   The theory was that Grammar schools produced a divided society and unfairly separated out the more gifted or better informed (*) pupils at the eleven plus examinations.
In the 50‘s we had the Grammar schools and the Secondary Technical schools (**), and from a personal memory of those days there doesn’t appear to have been any idea of class separation, yet certain members of the teaching profession decided that some members of society weren’t getting a fair deal, hence the introduction of the Comprehensive.
In the intervening years we have seen the gradual deterioration in classroom discipline with teachers leaving the profession because of the strain that was placed upon them, not only because of the misbehaviour but also because of the increased paperwork demanded by successive governments; the increase in graffiti on our streets;  the drug culture and glue/substance sniffing.
The fact of the matter is that many governments make changes for the sake of change; the comprehensive system has failed.   One of the main reasons for this failure is simply that the bright students inevitably outshine the less talented with the result that those at the lower end feel inadequate.   This is expressed in a multitude of ways including the actions mentioned earlier.
With the present governments constant reference to the education system students are being made even more aware of the need for qualifications making the problem even worse for the less clever amongst us; the very thing that the comprehensive was supposed to eradicate.   The fact of the matter is that we all have  talents and we don’t all have the same abilities.   How many adults are proficient in Do-it-Yourself ?    How  many adults are proficient at servicing their own cars ?  The idea being put abroad by Tony Blair is that the latter talents are regarded as inferior to those that can master such subjects as Calculus and languages.   The present government is tampering with the long-standing GCSE’s and “A” levels.  Surely it is common sense that if the pass numbers are excessive then the standard of difficulty should be increased in order to maintain the value of such a certificate.  If the entire class pass the exam then it’s value is diminished.   How are we going to assess who is best to lead our industries in the future if the measuring stick has no relevance ?
Just as the “Emperors new clothes” was sop to an Emperor that had been conned, so the present government are offering the same kind of sop to parents and electors in order to try and convince us all that this government is succeeding in producing a better educated student for the workplace.
If a student has/had the good fortune to go to a Secondary Technical school or the Blair equivalent he/she leaves with abilities that put them in good stead for the remainder of their lives, not only because of opportunities in the workplace but also because they are in the position of not having to call on others to do their home maintenance.   This leads to considerable savings when jobs have to be carried out in the home.   The fact that they don’t have “A” levels can hardly be described as a handicap !
The Prime Minister has been talking about Academy’s recently.   I would suggest that the word Academy is a euphemism for “Grammar School”.  Difficult for a Labour politician to pronounce but never-the-less that is what it amounts to; the separation of students according to ability and aptitude There are qualifications known as City & Guilds.   These qualifications indicated to  prospective employers that the student was proficient in various specialities and were a requirement for many enterprises in order to qualify for interview, let alone succeeding in landing the job.   Anyone interested in finding out about vocational qualifications visit www.city-and-guilds.co.uk  
  
Final word (for politicians); when in doubt do now’t  !

* special tutoring prior to eleven plus.

** pupils had a second chance to go to the Secondary Tech. Schools at the age of fourteen if they failed the eleven plus and showed aptitude for technical concepts.