To misquote Mr Grumpy "I Don't Believe It!"

I don't know about you, but I sometimes wonder if we live in a madhouse. I don't mean our homes, but the world in general, and education circles in particular.

You may well be aware that for some days now Michael Gove has been banging on about improving standards in schools. Over the last few years the Primary sector have been scrutinised, measured, checked, Ofsteded etc. Primary League Tables have been published and his latest idea is to change one of the categories of the Ofsted results.

A school will no longer be classed as "satisfactory" (for according to Mr Gove this implies that the school is just ticking over.) It must show steady progress and improve year on year! I ask myself is the man mad, has he taken leave of his senses, or is he just living in cloud cuckoo land?

I wonder if he has had the experience of trying to teach a class where over 50% of the children are classed as ESL (English as a second language.) It seems to me to be an exercise in futility trying to teach all the academic subjects to some poor little person who can barely speak (or understand) English.

But all of this is not my real concern about the world being mad. Oh No!
If I hadn't read it on the BBC interrnet news I would have hardly believed it.


Did you know that at the present moment a course in horse care is equivalent to four (yes you did read that right - FOUR) GCSE's?

A BTec level 2 in fish husbandry, and a level 2 certificate in nail technology services (both worth the equivalent of 2 GCSE's) could also be taken out of the GCSE equivalents. Whoopee I say! The sooner the better!

How on earth could these three examples be compared to a decent GCSE, let alone two or four GCSE equivalents?

With equivalents like these I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen breathing being given a GCSE equivalent!

No wonder our Secondary education system is in such a mess!

It seems that Secondary Schools are now in the firing line. Prof. Alison Wilson has decided that some of the courses offerred as equivalent to GCSE's will either be downgraded or removed from the equivalent status altogether! Do I detect a movement towards common sense at last?