WhilE I fully understand, and sympathise, with Graham Howarth’s defence of education standards (November 26), Cllr Tim Pickstone’s letter reveals the uncomfortable truth.
Many of the one in five 16 - 24-year-olds who are unemployed have been educated under this Government.
Moreover, countless major employers (and universities) continually complain about the educational standards of young people in basic reading, writing and numeracy and the risks they run in taking on someone who, for example, can’t follow simple safety instructions, or compose a letter.
In my experience, though, primary school children are doing well, and are a great tribute to their ‘professional’ teachers.
However, we seem to ‘lose’ children at secondary level and maybe this has more to do with the developing difficulties of society in general, over the last 10 years or so, which teachers on their own can’t posssibly address!
Derek Brooks Tottington
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