The Government is making us stupid

I remember when Tony Blair came in to power in the UK and one of his main policies used to be improving the "three R's": Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic in schools.

Several years and countless billions later we continue to hear reports that the education system is failing the kids. Furthermore you can see this yourself. In this area at least, kids are not exactly known for intellectual prowess and you can tell. They talk like someone has just smashed them in the face with a cricket bat. Which they probably have.

We have a growing "gang" culture powered by these disillusioned teenagers - and some of them are only just teenagers. Of course, these are not gangs compared to the likes of the Yardie gangs in London or those similar gun wielding gangs in Liverpool. Simply gangs that commit minor offences which makes them feel better about themselves. Underage drinking, intimidation, vandalism, verbal and sometimes physical assault. Happy slapping. Even murder: consider the case of Gary Newlove that was battered to death outside his home by three teenagers in Warrington after he went to stop them kicking his wife's car. (The Police should take a proactive stance with these kids and lock them up before they do something like this. Force them to be educated.)

Anyway. Don't get me wrong here, most of this stuff happened when I was a teenager too. The difference is that only the "hard" kids - usually the ones that were thick - used to do it, and there weren't that many of them. When I used to buy alcohol underage, I didn't buy it to fuel me up for a fight or to brick someones car. I just went back to someones house and got trollied. Now a far larger number seem to do it: they are aggressive and do things that are against what is acceptable seemingly for the sake of doing so. It's got to a stage where an Antisocial Behaviour Order (ASBO) is like a diploma and gives respect on the street.

All this brings me to my point, which is Gordon Brown yet again trying to eradicate private schools by removing their charitable status (and resulting tax breaks). There is always this myth that private schools are available only for the very rich.

I went to a private school, as did several of my junior school friends and none of our parents are anything like what you would call rich (Labour ministers have a far higher income than my parents ever did). Private schools offer bursaries to help those that cannot afford the fees. The main thing is that they can choose who they accept: they don't accept rough kids that have no interest in learning. If they find a kid thats desperate to get the best education but cant afford it, they help them.

At that time you could do just as well at other normal comprehensive schools although there is no doubt that the quality and experience of the teaching staff was very high at the school I went to; and the discipline was too.

Fast forward 10 years or so and it's a whole different zeitgeist. You can see how things have changed. Pupils at comprehensive schools just don't want to know. Many of them are what I would class as thick, or no-hopers. I accept that the education system has a part to play in that. Basically I believe the education system in this country has become a joke: key exams are easier than ever to pass, many of the teaching staff are inexperienced; core subjects are dumbed down in favour of easy subjects like media. All this despite Gordon Brown and previously Tony Blair pumping billions of pounds into the system, buying the latest IT suites, latest science labs, books etc.

Consider the private sector and you can see that many of them are scrapping the GCSE and A level and opting for the internationally recognised International Baccalaureate. Compare this to the normal education system where exams are trivialised more and more each year and you can see why there is a problem.

In a comprehensive, teachers do not have the powers to control a class that those in private schools do. Any parent will tell you that once a child gets away with doing something they shouldn't they will keep doing it so it's no wonder classes in these schools are often disrupted by pupils. It's no wonder kids are antisocial when they are outside school because they can get away with it.

Society has removed all means of discipline. You can't smack your kids any more, you can't punish them. The Police never crack down on gang culture like they claim to and certainly don't enforce curfews and no-loitering zones. Many of those that go to comprehensive schools only have single mother to look after them. No father figure. I certainly used to be afraid of upsetting my dad but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I guess when you're a child in a single parent situation you go either completely off the rails and become a reprobate or you set off climbing the ladder to greatness. Not many climb the ladder.

As I said earlier, one of the common complaints from those perpetual benefits claimants that want to send their kids to the best private schools but cant afford it is that only super rich families can afford to send their kids there. Labour often spout about it too but the irony is that almost all Members of Parliament are products of private schools and send their kids to private schools.

What does Gordon Brown think will happen if the charitable status is removed from private schools? Prices will obviously go up. Meaning that Gordon will be the instigator of something he hates: exclusivity. You see, if this happens it really will only be the super rich that can afford these schools, and certainly some will have to close or reduce in size. For what benefit? Is this miraculously going to improve Gordon's awful education system?

No it's not. Private schools are an example that privatization works. Removing them removes choice for a select number and removes the top schools because people on benefits with kids that have been expelled from school already can't send their kids there. It removes the example of high quality education that Britain is known for around the world. What's next after Eton and Rugby have gone, demolish Oxford and Cambridge?

It is an example of Labour removing yet another choice. Soon there wont be any left.