getting all the headlines atm. do you agree with his backward radicalism?

Something needs to be done to drive up standards, too many are leaving school without the numeracy/literacy/communication skills to get by in the world of work

 

Whether Gove's ideas are right or wrong at least he has the balls to change a failing system

Something needs to be done to drive up standards, too many are leaving school without the numeracy/literacy/communication skills to get by in the world of work

 

Whether Gove's ideas are right or wrong at least he has the balls to change a failing system

It needs more than that though. Anyone can come up with changes but that doesn't mean they should go ahead. After all, most people only get one chance at an education. Gove's ideas are based on pure ideology without a shred of evidence to support them which makes him a total menace.

 

His suggestion that there should be less difference between state schools and private schools is all very well. However, the biggest difference is in funding. Somehow I don't suppose he has any plans to do anything about that.

Our marketing department is trying to recruit someone between 16 and 18 to train up in all aspects of the marketing side of the business, and the quality of the cv's and covering letters that have been sent has by and large been embarrassingly awful, these people are barely suitable for a paper round that have applied, something needs to be done to drive up standards, bring it on Gove

 

It needs more than that though. Anyone can come up with changes but that doesn't mean they should go ahead. After all, most people only get one chance at an education. Gove's ideas are based on pure ideology without a shred of evidence to support them which makes him a total menace.

 

His suggestion that there should be less difference between state schools and private schools is all very well. However, the biggest difference is in funding. Somehow I don't suppose he has any plans to do anything about that.

 

Throwing money at something is not always going to solve problems, making better use of existing money is just as important

 

I know it is not in Gove's plans but the whole system needs changing to adapt to the modern world, less teaching on rubbish like kings and queens and more on things like creating cv's, covering letters, financial management, budgeting, web design, things that are going to help in real life

 

Its barmy that a kid can leave school knowing how many wives Henry 8th had but not how to manage a budget/look after money/write a legible cv and covering letter/give a powerpoint presentation

Edited February 3, 201411 yr by Sandro Raniere

Our marketing department is trying to recruit someone between 16 and 18 to train up in all aspects of the marketing side of the business, and the quality of the cv's and covering letters that have been sent has by and large been embarrassingly awful, these people are barely suitable for a paper round that have applied, something needs to be done to drive up standards, bring it on Gove

I'd be genuinely interested in seeing a CV and covering letter of yours.

I'd be genuinely interested in seeing a CV and covering letter of yours.

 

If it means that much to you am happy to do that, minus my current job of course as would not want any Buzzjackers who hate me tapping up my boss ;) i will upload it tomorrow, along with a covering letter to a ficticious job

Edited February 3, 201411 yr by Sandro Raniere

Our marketing department is trying to recruit someone between 16 and 18 to train up in all aspects of the marketing side of the business, and the quality of the cv's and covering letters that have been sent has by and large been embarrassingly awful, these people are barely suitable for a paper round that have applied, something needs to be done to drive up standards, bring it on Gove

You mean you get people who don't know that the plural of CV is CVs with no apostrophe? Or do you mean that the CVs are an incoherent ramble with no sentence structure?

 

The fact is (sorry, I know you hate facts but you'll just haver to lump it) that there is no crisis in standards. The press made a big fuss of the OECD figures last year that showed England and Wales near the bottom. A closer look at the actual data showed that, apart from the very top and the very bottom, there was little difference between countries. In other words, the performance of children in England and Wales was similar to that of children in competing nations. Of course, they also showed the US well behind at the very bottom. So, either the US could be even further ahead of the rest of us as the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth or the tests used are not as valid as some people say they are. There is also a suspicion that the samples of children used by some countries was not fully representative and that the lowest achievers were deliberately left out.

 

I am often dismayed by the number of people whose written English is poor. However, I have seen plenty of examples of atrocious written English from people who were educated in the so-called "golden age" of the 1950s so I can only conclude that the "golden age" is another myth.

Throwing money at something is not always going to solve problems, making better use of existing money is just as important

 

I know it is not in Gove's plans but the whole system needs changing to adapt to the modern world, less teaching on rubbish like kings and queens and more on things like creating cv's, covering letters, financial management, budgeting, web design, things that are going to help in real life

 

Its barmy that a kid can leave school knowing how many wives Henry 8th had but not how to manage a budget/look after money/write a legible cv and covering letter/give a powerpoint presentation

More money means smaller class sizes.

 

I agree that there is too much emphasis on kings and queens. Gove, however, disagrees and thinks that it is vital that children should learn them all by rote.

 

I know you have this weird idea that everybody should run their own business and that somehow schools can be run without teachers, the streets will clean themselves, public transport can run without drivers and that supermarket shelves will be kept stocked by magic. Meanwhile, in the real world, things are different. The vast majority of people will never need to give a Powerpoint presentation or prepare a budget or business plan.

Let's face it, anyone who's worked for any length of time will know that poor use of English doesn't really hold you back. I'm often appalled when reading things that have been written by people earning 3+ times what I do.

Gove is a massive TOOL of the not so complementary kind. He seems to think that his idea (and his idea basically implies that British education was better in the early-mid 20th Century and that we should disregard all logic and advances made since then and instead put rose-tinted thick geeky spectacles on, get the cane out, and look romantically back to 'the good old days') is the only solution to a better education system. His ideas are then bulldozed in against the quite reasonable opposing views coming from those who are far more experienced in the field. He refuses to listen to anyone and ends up alienating most of the teachers he is supposedly trying to help.

 

Addendum: Craig, CVs are increasingly irrelevant thesedays - employers end up seeing the same things (good exam results, a degree, extra curricular activities... yadda yadda), the skills that they can bring to the company are far more important (be it communication, leadership, innovation) and you fail to note is that younger people are not only getting much better at these, but that they are also very much more skilled in using the latest IT and could quite easily WIPE THE FLOOR with your own basic IT skills. Maybe they could have the potential to revolutionise the way your company works and potentially (hopefully) replace you. Stop writing off our young!

You mean you get people who don't know that the plural of CV is CVs with no apostrophe? Or do you mean that the CVs are an incoherent ramble with no sentence structure?

 

The fact is (sorry, I know you hate facts but you'll just haver to lump it) that there is no crisis in standards. The press made a big fuss of the OECD figures last year that showed England and Wales near the bottom. A closer look at the actual data showed that, apart from the very top and the very bottom, there was little difference between countries. In other words, the performance of children in England and Wales was similar to that of children in competing nations. Of course, they also showed the US well behind at the very bottom. So, either the US could be even further ahead of the rest of us as the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth or the tests used are not as valid as some people say they are. There is also a suspicion that the samples of children used by some countries was not fully representative and that the lowest achievers were deliberately left out.

 

I am often dismayed by the number of people whose written English is poor. However, I have seen plenty of examples of atrocious written English from people who were educated in the so-called "golden age" of the 1950s so I can only conclude that the "golden age" is another myth.

 

I have to be exceptionally focused at work, when i am outside of work i don't apply the same level of attention to detail as i do at work, so i am the first to admit that at home i am a lazy typer hence stuff like cv's etc, in a focused work environment such elementary errors do not take place, more than my job is worth

More money means smaller class sizes.

 

I agree that there is too much emphasis on kings and queens. Gove, however, disagrees and thinks that it is vital that children should learn them all by rote.

 

I know you have this weird idea that everybody should run their own business and that somehow schools can be run without teachers, the streets will clean themselves, public transport can run without drivers and that supermarket shelves will be kept stocked by magic. Meanwhile, in the real world, things are different. The vast majority of people will never need to give a Powerpoint presentation or prepare a budget or business plan.

 

Budgeting and money skills are exceptionally important in this day and age, not just in a work environment but more importantly away from it, at home, it should be taught at school

 

 

Gove is a massive TOOL of the not so complementary kind. He seems to think that his idea (and his idea basically implies that British education was better in the early-mid 20th Century and that we should disregard all logic and advances made since then and instead put rose-tinted thick geeky spectacles on, get the cane out, and look romantically back to 'the good old days') is the only solution to a better education system. His ideas are then bulldozed in against the quite reasonable opposing views coming from those who are far more experienced in the field. He refuses to listen to anyone and ends up alienating most of the teachers he is supposedly trying to help.

 

Addendum: Craig, CVs are increasingly irrelevant thesedays - employers end up seeing the same things (good exam results, a degree, extra curricular activities... yadda yadda), the skills that they can bring to the company are far more important (be it communication, leadership, innovation) and you fail to note is that younger people are not only getting much better at these, but that they are also very much more skilled in using the latest IT and could quite easily WIPE THE FLOOR with your own basic IT skills. Maybe they could have the potential to revolutionise the way your company works and potentially (hopefully) replace you. Stop writing off our young!

 

It is not even my department, i was not involved in the recruitment process, i was told by the marketing director and the HR director that they found the search for someone frustrating because of the poor quality of CVs and covering letters, the job has been filled, ironically by a LATVIAN born girl, which is not a great advert for the UK youth of today i'm afraid

 

In terms of IT etc very possibly

I frequently come across funded grant proposals that have a standard of English far below what you would expect for someone who earns a living teaching.

 

And I work for the 4th best University in the entire Country and 3rd oldest in the English speaking world!

It is not even my department, i was not involved in the recruitment process, i was told by the marketing director and the HR director that they found the search for someone frustrating because of the poor quality of CVs and covering letters, the job has been filled, ironically by a LATVIAN born girl, which is not a great advert for the UK youth of today i'm afraid

 

In terms of IT etc very possibly

Perhaps you could ask how many of the CVs came from people currently out of work. People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance have to apply for a minimum number of jobs every week. That inevitably means that some people apply for jobs for which they are not qualified simply to meet their quota. This is a total waste of time for both the applicants and the employer.

Perhaps you could ask how many of the CVs came from people currently out of work. People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance have to apply for a minimum number of jobs every week. That inevitably means that some people apply for jobs for which they are not qualified simply to meet their quota. This is a total waste of time for both the applicants and the employer.

 

We insist on hand written covering letters (it's a good insight into how people can cope without spellchecker etc) along with a CV sent through the post so none of the Universal Job Match stuff, so while i don't know how many were out of work, it is unlikely to be quota based as didn't go through UJM

 

 

Should point out that those grant proposal's aren't necessarily from my University. The abstracts that get published by the funders after the grants are funded are often riddled with horrific English.

 

Science grants are particularly bad and yet the funding leads to some insanely amazing advances.

 

English standards aren't the be all and end all. Don't need to be able to write a detailed essay on Chaucer to cure cancer...

We insist on hand written covering letters (it's a good insight into how people can cope without spellchecker etc) along with a CV sent through the post so none of the Universal Job Match stuff, so while i don't know how many were out of work, it is unlikely to be quota based as didn't go through UJM

People don't have to apply through the government website for it to count as an application.

It needs more than that though. Anyone can come up with changes but that doesn't mean they should go ahead. After all, most people only get one chance at an education. Gove's ideas are based on pure ideology without a shred of evidence to support them which makes him a total menace.

'Without a shred of evidence' isn't exactly accurate.