{Corrupt Practices [continued]}[14th September 1990]

[Redbook7:292-295][19900914:1619b]{Corrupt Practices [continued]}[14th September 1990]

.1619

[continued]

To put the cap on it,* the next cutting** reveals in the last paragraph*** (but needs the rest to put it in context) what I had long suspected – that the examination system is being fiddled. I assume that the writer knows what he is talking about: what teacher would dare to make up such a claim unless he was certain, certain enough to risk losing his job.

It fits: I can’t be the only person who has been amazed at the huge numbers of ‘A’ grades routinely gained nowadays – and then been staggered to meet one of these paragons in the flesh with a string of ‘A’ grades who knows nothing (or little) of value, can’t seem to think straight, can’t express himself, can’t write good English, can’t even spell!****

(This is also the reason why I don’t pay too much attention to Welsh language educationalists’ claims that ‘Bi-lingual’ education produces better examination results.)#

*[See last previous entry]

**ref [next page in ms, not reproduced in the ts or blog] 293

[The Independent 900914:19: “The ‘crazy’ man who gave up journalism for teaching[:] Anthony Vavasour is experiencing at first hand what he wrote about as an education correspondent”]

***[‘Many schools appear to be doing well despite the pressures, and point to record numbers of pupils passing exams. This is a con. All teachers, including those acting as external moderators, are part of a secret conspiracy of overly generous marking. Candidates who cannot spell or punctuate are being awarded good GCSE literature grades. Others who have done next to no work can scrape in with an F or G. To avoid the U classification – a mark of failure – schools will simply not enter weak candidates in some subjects. The resulting statistics are at best highly misleading and at worst fraudulent. The overriding aim is to make the system look good, but it is in fact failing many students.’]

****[Sez he...]

[30 years later, concerns about grade inflation are still being expressed.]

#(ref earlier)

{[[Redbook7:217-221][19900818:0955c]{Nationalism}[18th August 1990],] 217ff}

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