Education! Education! Education! ... And the Yadda, Yadda "We're Listening" Policies

Having just watched Question Time featuring the Education Minister, I thought I'd comment on the effectiveness of education policy and the apparent inability of some groups to listen to some very credible  experts who have some great ideas to the current problems regarding education.

How bad are some of the problems? In “The Social Entrepreneur” Andrew Mawson details his work with the  people of Bromley in Bow. Mawson observes about the political process and decision making that;

“The areas of deprivation in the UK have not shifted a great deal since Dickensian times, and any talk of a new approach of the kind I fervently believe would work has led us to nothing but lots of strategising, meetings, papers, conferences, seminars, websites…and when the money runs out, there is nothing left to show, no tangible results and so, of course, the show moves on”

Every 4 years we have new governments, new manifesto promises, new policies, new targets and the all too familiar “stick and carrot” approach of taking funding away from some initiatives, and providing "incentives" for others, to ensure that the latest “in vogue” governmental priority is met. This can be to the detriment of policies that were starting to produce results.

And it’s not as if educators don’t have some good answers… they have lots of them!

Not only do our educators clock up £7 billion in unpaid over time, but they then take to the many #EdChat Sessions which take place each week on Social Media to discuss some solutions and, on occasion, may also vent their frustrations at not being listened to,  I wonder how many politicians tune in to hear these suggestions from the “coal face.”

The NHS have a Chief Medical Officer who gets advice from medical experts before making recommendations on various health issues… why is there not a Chief Education Officer who does the      same in Education.

 It may be convenient for career politicians (regardless of which party ...or country for that matter) to give it “Yadda, Yadda” any time they are confronted with comments and ideas they don’t like… But its not acceptable to our young  people… Just a quick glance at how depressing news articles and issues around social mobility will tell you that!