No, no, no, no, no:
So Michael Gove’s announcement on the Andrew Marr show this morning that the government plans to introduce an English baccalaureate is to be welcomed.
The whole damn point of the baccalaureate is that it is international.
That is, that the idiot educational establishment in Britain isn\’t able to get its hands on it and promote cooperation in plasticine snake making over the ability to read and write.
The entire point of the whole thing is to make sure that those who read and write The Guardian\’s education supplements have fuck all to do with anything.
Sadly, hanging them all would be illegal but at least we can make them irrelevant.
Exactly what my dad said when this was being mooted about 5 years ago: a “British” baccalaureate would be worth f*** all, they either need to adopt the existing one or call it something else.
I daresay the EU has instructed the Westminster-based administrators of its Offshore Regions to implement this rubbish.
We had a perfectly good educational system in 1869. Let’s upgrade to a market-driven model and ditch the debilitating Statist one.
Up to a point, Lord Copper; the Speccie could have put it better, but I think the purpose of the formulation is to allow for the fact that we poor bastards in Scotland will still have to put up with whatever Eck the Fish (or the Labour twats after the next election to the Toytoon Parlie) deem is good enough for us.
The IB starts at 16 and Gove’s proposal is for a new exam for 16 year olds, so I don’t see what the problem is here.
Ditching A levels in favour of the IB would be a great idea for the UK but the current GCSE system gives a poor starting point for students.
A new bac for 16 year olds preparing them for the IB would be a great idea so let’s hope this is the plan!
Well the International GCSE is already in existance to provide a good foundation prior to sixth form A levels or IB. The IGCSE has not suffered the politically mandated dumbing down that has so ruined the GCSE.
It’s just that under labour, the state schools were not permitted to enter their pupils for IGCSE courses or exams.
Do we need any more evidence that Gove either does not “get” the concept of liberalising education or is intentionally providing only a veneer of change.
I say both.