13th August 2012 10:01
By Blue Tutors
Slow Down Introduction of New O Levels or Say Goodbye to World Class
Exam boards are warning Michael Gove that he must slow down his ‘extremely ambitious’ timetable for the reintroduction of the new O Level. If he does not they forecast that he risks repeating previous testing disasters. Senior figures of the exam boards told the TES that if he continues apace he will scupper any ambition to make the new exams truly ‘world class’.
Teachers too are worried, although from a different standpoint. Nigel May writes in the TES, that Gove’s contempt for teachers is clear. The new GCSE specifications being introduced from September naturally bring in a whole new workload for teachers, despite not even having had final approval by their introduction date. On top of that the new O Levels will also require voluminous schemes of work, lesson plans and materials for their ‘more challenging’ syllabus.
Gove, it seems is on the hunt for a quick way to reform education, giving industry what it wants from school leavers, as well as ensuring the UK does not fall behind in international educational statistics, but perhaps he would benefit from a old world motto of ‘more haste, less speed’. Just as rote learning produces a superficial ability, so will quick reform of our education system produce a quick fix. Perhaps he’s hoping he’ll be on a nice pension by the time the results are out!