News from the New Party

Balls on "A" levels

The Schools Secretary Ed Balls has announced that work-based diplomas, previously envisaged as vocational qualifications, are to be extended into the academic areas of languages, the sciences and humanities, in a move which can only be seen as an assault on the long-standing and already much undermined "A"-Level.

According to the Schools Secretary:

"If Diplomas are successfully introduced and are delivering the mix that employers and universities value, they could be come the qualification of choice for young people."

And if pigs had wings they could fly.  The drive towards diplomas is simply the latest move towards the abolition of a distinction between academic and vocational qualifications.  In effect it is a move towards the abolition of academic excellence.  Just as academic selection is now regarded as beyond the pale, the idea that any form of academic differentiation between students can be drawn is anathema to the cultural Marxists who maintain a stranglehold on modern educational theory.  In place of meaningful academic qualifications, then, we are to dilute the academic content of secondary education still further with paper diplomas which record the ability of students to jump through a series of well-signposted hoops.

The tragedy is that even the Conservatives have too often colluded in the destruction of the British education system in the mistaken view that vocational education gives employers what they want and need, and that academic education is often in abstract subjects with no immediate application.  And so subjects such as history have been dramatically undermined - with students no longer taught the history of their own country in any systematic way, the consequences for social cohesion in the much changed circumstances of the twenty-first century have been disastrous.

What is needed, instead of pointless diplomas, is a system of qualifications which fits the needs of individual students rather than a one-size-fits-all system which suits no-one.  This means that there must be a strong and worthwhile system of vocational education for those who are not academically inclined, and a rigorous system of academic qualifications for those who are equipped to deal with it. 

Ed Balls slammed down Chris Woodhead, the former Chief Inspector of Schools, for espousing such views on the Radio 4 World at One programme yesterday.  Woodhead, he says, is out of step.  Indeed Woodhead may well be out of step with almost the entire educational establishment: this does not mean, however, that he is wrong.  The toxic ideology which dominates British education must be overthrown.  We need an educational counter-revolution to drive cultural Marxism out of our schools.