Combien d’étudiants qui ont appris le français jusqu’à GCSE savent écrire cette phrase?

nick cowen, 23 August 2007

In the wake of the annual controversy sparked by inflated A-level results, real evidence has emerged that GCSEs are similarly suffering a crisis of quality – writes Thomas Woods. Writing in today’s Telegraph newspaper, a languages examiner has revealed the existence of a co-ordinated system of ‘teaching to the test’. In the French Oral section pupils are at liberty to memorise a string of answers which they are assured will be required in the exam. The writing section (which is now 100 per cent coursework) involves students reeling off identical essays using ‘writing frames’ already set out for them by the teachers. Token attempts at variation are provided with the individuals’ choice of holiday and weekend activity.

However, despite this seemingly staightforward path to good grades, today’s GCSE results are expected to show a further decline in the popularity of languages, particularly French and German. The numbers studying these previously compulsory subjects are expected to fall below 300,000, and Headmasters are expressing concerns that they are in free fall. Worried business groups are claiming it is a ‘national scandal’ that so many pupils leave school lacking basic communication skills, with some not confident enough to ‘answer the telephone to a stranger’.
With such controversy over the languages curriculum, it seems an ill-timed move for the government to introduce a reformed GCSE mathematics examination, widely criticized as ‘watered down.’ Experts claim that the new GCSE will not sufficiently prepare students for any further study of the subject, and warn that A-Levels are in danger of becoming the preserve of an ‘academic elite.’
Today the number of top marks at GCSE level rose for the 20th year in a row, with just under a fifth of entries receiving an A grade. 98 per cent of papers were awarded a pass mark, while entries in media studies increased by almost 9,000. It appears the education system is yet another example of the Government’s penchant for targets at the expense of real achievement. If it wants to reap the benefits of efficient workplaces across the land, perhaps it should be crueler in the classroom.