Commenting on a report by the Lords Education for 11-16 Year Olds
Committee which criticises the current education system for its
overloaded curriculum, disproportionate exam burden and declining
opportunities to study creative and technical subjects,
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National
Education Union, said:
“This report is comprehensive in assessing the problems but also
in offering solutions. What this cross-party committee has
found chimes with what NEU members see at the chalk face, as well
as the findings of New Era Assessment (1) and the assessment
inquiry of the APPG for Schools, Learning and Assessment
(2).
"The current curriculum is not fit for the challenges and
realities of our times. The way our current curriculum is
assessed does not support students to demonstrate all that
they’re capable of and the crude league table measures push
out the arts and technical subjects. All this must change.
"The consensus for change is clear and undeniable. Any current or
future government must take note of calls like this one, from
across the sector, for curriculum and assessment modernisation.
The future success and wellbeing of young people, and the nation,
depends on it.
"However, without addressing real terms school funding cuts and
tackling the intense workload of staff, which drives our serious
teacher recruitment and retention challenge, the changes needed
have little chance of
materialising.”
Editor's Note
1) https://www.neweraassessment.org.uk/
2) https://www.schoolsappg.org.uk/
