We watched one of the BBC series: Back in time for school, which has been on recently. Last night's episode was about the years immediately after the First World War. The authorities in this country came to the conclusion that the Germans had had superior weaponry and, perhaps more importantly, their soldiers understood the scientific principles behind the new weapons far better that ours did.
This eventually translated into changes in the British education system and more technical subjects being taught in schools.
It all sounds very familiar doesn't it? We are still trying to catch the Germans up. By a strange coincidence, Larry Elliot at The Guardian, who I mentioned this morning (HERE), also talked about the same thing with the following piece (HERE second item down) :
It all sounds very familiar doesn't it? We are still trying to catch the Germans up. By a strange coincidence, Larry Elliot at The Guardian, who I mentioned this morning (HERE), also talked about the same thing with the following piece (HERE second item down) :
Nothing new in the UK’s adult education failings
The report from the Whitehall department was blunt: Britain’s system of adult education was not up to scratch. Improvements in skills training were needed to help the population cope with rapid technological change and to allow citizens to assess rival political claims.
Those were the findings of the Ministry of Reconstruction’s adult education committee in 1919 and over the past century it is striking – and depressing – to find how little has changed. The latest adult education survey from the Office for National Statistics says some of the most vulnerable people in the UK have the least access to the training and education to boost their career prospects.
[..] The 100th anniversary of the 1919 report has been marked by the setting up of a centenary commission that will publish its report on the challenges facing adult education in November. The fact that it will be the latest in a series of high-level studies going back not just to the aftermath of the first world war but to the mid-19th century tells its own story. The problem is not that there has been a shortage of ideas for improving adult education. It is that the many weighty reports have been allowed to gather dust.
There we have it. A hundred years on and we are still looking enviously at Germany and blaming them for our difficulties, whether it's failing to take over the leadership of Europe or losing World Cup games on penalties. Brexit is half about storming out in a huff because we can't have it all our way.
Tony Blair once said his priorities were education, education, education but it seems to have made little difference. Brexit and our poor productivity are both, in my opinion, caused by the same problem. If the people cannot see that raising output, working more efficiently, is the only way to improve living standards we will never prosper. Improving education should be our No 1 priority not Brexit.
It doesn't matter whether we are in the EU are not, education is the key. If we were better educated we would be able to 'assess rival political claims' as Elliot said, and less liable to fall prey to the demagogues. In fact this is probably one of the main reasons why Brexit is unlikely to spread into other EU countries.
The report from the Whitehall department was blunt: Britain’s system of adult education was not up to scratch. Improvements in skills training were needed to help the population cope with rapid technological change and to allow citizens to assess rival political claims.
Those were the findings of the Ministry of Reconstruction’s adult education committee in 1919 and over the past century it is striking – and depressing – to find how little has changed. The latest adult education survey from the Office for National Statistics says some of the most vulnerable people in the UK have the least access to the training and education to boost their career prospects.
[..] The 100th anniversary of the 1919 report has been marked by the setting up of a centenary commission that will publish its report on the challenges facing adult education in November. The fact that it will be the latest in a series of high-level studies going back not just to the aftermath of the first world war but to the mid-19th century tells its own story. The problem is not that there has been a shortage of ideas for improving adult education. It is that the many weighty reports have been allowed to gather dust.
There we have it. A hundred years on and we are still looking enviously at Germany and blaming them for our difficulties, whether it's failing to take over the leadership of Europe or losing World Cup games on penalties. Brexit is half about storming out in a huff because we can't have it all our way.
Tony Blair once said his priorities were education, education, education but it seems to have made little difference. Brexit and our poor productivity are both, in my opinion, caused by the same problem. If the people cannot see that raising output, working more efficiently, is the only way to improve living standards we will never prosper. Improving education should be our No 1 priority not Brexit.
It doesn't matter whether we are in the EU are not, education is the key. If we were better educated we would be able to 'assess rival political claims' as Elliot said, and less liable to fall prey to the demagogues. In fact this is probably one of the main reasons why Brexit is unlikely to spread into other EU countries.
