The media and political debate over grade inflation and Michael Gove's proposed GCSE reforms disguise how difficult it is for young people in today's struggling economy.
Alexzandar Swatton writes on a number of issues, both for this blog and others. A recent politics & sociology graduate from the University of Sheffield, Alex is a former business proprietor and a life-long, active member of the Labour Party.
So the thrilling annual media-fest of opening envelopes live on TV and the incessant debate over grade inflation are at last coming to a close, but as the attention dwindles away Michael Gove continues his onslaught, seemingly determined to leave his mark in the history books.
Before the dust settled over this year’s paper-tearing the government seemed to hail the reversal in top-grade achievements as a success; somehow a trend of increasing pupil success was treated as a failure. Despite repeated and ever-louder demonstrations from teaching unions and education professionals the divisive minister continues an unwanted overhaul of the examination system and a return to outdated practices.
Much like the unwarranted reorganisation of the NHS, the proposed privatisation of a profitable public run railway franchise, and the inevitable disposal of a successful Royal Mail everyone should ask just what is the point of this meddling? If pupils aren’t already deflated by claims their qualifications are not of sufficient worth they now face a Britain with employment uncertainty and ever-narrowing chances.
The old adage of ‘study hard, work hard, go to university, get a job’ sounds more like a fringe-festival joke in the shadow of 2.5m unemployed and ever-increasing youth unemployment. If study and hard work pay then why do the government fail so miserably in making it feasible? Why do they proclaim that falling grades this year are a success rather than a manipulation to satisfy political ideology?
As I try to imagine being a fresh faced 15yr old about to sit my GCSEs I ponder how I might choose my path in today’s Britain. To do this, as a model pupil and citizen I must seemingly accept certain ‘truths’:
- I must be good at mathematics or science – as obviously any other subjects or creativity are pointless and do not add to the country, its GDP, or its economic focus
- I must be good at exams – as of course these are just like real life and everything should rest on one 2 hour period to determine my future outcome
- I must accept ever-rising university fees and debt – unlike the policy makers who got where they are via free education
- I must accept working for free on ‘Internships’ and ‘Work Experience’ as apparently actually getting paid is unnecessary. I must accept this is useful to social mobility
- I must accept the unchecked advancement of zero-hours contracts
- I must accept stagnant or, in real-terms, falling wages
- I must accept working the longest hours in Europe
- I must accept the daily commute- to -work costs rising above inflation and wages every year
- I must accept rising rents and spending more of my earnings on living and energy
The above is hardly a great sales pitch by any standards, but put in such a way it highlights the ridiculous plight of today’s young people – no wonder the country is stalled.
Bias in the exam system, a return to Victorian teaching methods, and mockery of current achievements is hardly the way to progress a nation back into being a world leader. Rather than chasing their place in history Gove and his fellow cabinet ministers should listen to the professionals and not enact reform just for the sake of headlines. Rest assured however the same old debates and live envelope opening ‘news articles’ will appear in 12 months’ time; let’s just hope for the sake of our future the results they achieve are at least valued.
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11 Responses to “For many young people ‘study hard, work hard, go to university, get a job’ isn’t reality”
Jacko
‘Alex is a former business proprietor’. Now, if that statement was on a CV, my bullshit detectors would be going wild. Do you mean he set up and ran his own business? Or do you mean he was a trainee manager in a clothes shop? I suspect something closer to the latter.
‘A lifelong member of the Labour party’. What is he, an old man? Or was he signed up at birth by his parents?
Smithy
Actually it started under last Labour government. Think about it. Did schoolchildren suddenly start getting more intelligent or did exams become easier? What is the more likely explanation?
When I was at school in 1985, the highest marks that pupils achieved in mock O levels, as they were then, was about 80-85%. And this would be achieved by 1 or 2 kids in a class of 30. This was consistently the case across all subjects. This year my son did his mocks, and the top marks were 95-98%. And I don’t mean just one person, 5 or 6 students achieved this. So the difference is about 15% easier in absolute terms, and an increase in the numbers getting the top marks by roughly double. So my very rough estimate is that exams now are 30%( 15*2) easier than when I did them in 1985.
The worst thing about this is that these kids think they’re geniuses, that they can take the most challenging tests that life has to throw at them and score virtually 100%. When they get out in the world they are in for a shock. Because whilst exams have got much easier, the world is a much more brutal and competitive place than 30 years ago.
Alexzandar Swatton
Actually I owned my own bar and sports venue at the age of 25.., so turn off the slightly damaged detectors of yours!
Psychjim
‘study hard, work hard, go to university, get a job’ never held true in any year! Kids have always been labelled by the areas they were brought up in. (Even before Thatcher’s “right-to-buy” scheme in the 80s, which planted the seeds of the ‘sink-estate’ where people ended up if they couldn’t afford to buy no matter what the ‘discount’.) Education has been used as some sort of marker for successive governments for generations. The one saving grace for my generation was the trades apprenticeships. For those not so academic there was the possibility of a life-long trade. “Time-served” young people could at least hope for a better future doing ‘proper’ jobs, not sitting in call centres annoying anonymous people for a pittance. Nor stacking shelves and shuffling trolleys for the local supermarket. We no longer encourage skilled and semi-skilled trades because our manufacturing base is in India, or Bangladesh, or some other Third World sweatshops. Academia still, and has always, favoured the middle and upper classes. There’s an old, old saying: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know that counts!” And that’s as true today as it’s always been. The myth that “anyone can reach the top” is just that – a myth. How much room IS there at the “top”? There are millions of young people dropping off the market stall because there’s nowhere for them to go! Not because they did well, or did poorly, in some exam.
John
I’m in my last year of Uni, studying business. After all my loans and grants came though at the start of September £2900, I paid my Uni rent, and was left with £500…By the time of paying for travel card, food, kitchen appliances (cutlery), Uni books, folders, and smart clothes for a job interview, I was left with £0…Mad! Point being it’s incredibly difficult to do my work whilst stressing about money and getting a job and my grades are definitely going to fall because of it. Then what’s my future career look like in today’s economy…sh*t !