By Press Release
I always try to be nice, but not today. Today I can’t be friendly because I’m frustrated and angry about the Island’s dismal education standards. The new Education Secretary, Kit Malthouse, speaking about the national picture, said: “The challenge now is to work with the teaching profession to bring all schools up to the standards achieved by the best.”
Malthouse first emerged in London working alongside (then) Mayor Boris Johnson. To be successful, Boris knew he must surround himself with people who would make a difference. It worked; Malthouse is definitely one of those characters, so I pray he sticks around long enough to have an impact here. If I were Bob Seely, I would forget about pointless posturing in Ukraine and instead spend my days – and nights if necessary – sitting outside Kit Malthouse’s office door. I would plague and pester him until he guarantees that his department has a workable plan to improve Island school results. I’m not talking about more meetings and conversations; no more empty promises please; we’ve had enough excuses and false hope. This has gone on long enough;it’s a crisis, and it demands an urgent solution.
Perhaps we need a super head, someone like Sir Anthony Selden. He’s a gifted teacher with a proven record of turning things around in difficult circumstances. All children need to be challenged and inspired, and the best educators do that, but just as importantly, they can teach other teachers how it’s done.
The grim truth is, shamefully at all levels, Key Stage 2, GCSE and A-Level, the Island’s state schools are at the very bottom of league tables for the entire country. Disgracefully, we have been either the worst or almost the worst for years. Every single politician we elected promised to improve education results and has failed to do so. You’d never know it, because the schools keep issuing annual press releases, pretending that everything is wonderful. The school’s infuriating post-exam press puffs tend to be illustrated with a sprinkling of high-achieving students, usually speaking fluent Mandarin, Farsi or Japanese – perhaps that helps keep the pressure off?
The facts never lie of course, and our stats are woeful; they shame our community. Why on earth is the Isle of Wight worse than inner-city areas, where English is not even the first language? We are humiliated, and we need some straight talk from politicians. Councillors, governors, heads, teachers and parents can’t go on pretending that this is good enough. Resigning ourselves to the status quo means admitting that somehow, Island kids are thicker than those found elsewhere; even kids living on urban sink estates in Britain’s worst housing projects.
Is this what you want? Is it a fair swap for raising your family in idyllic surroundings? Don’t your kids deserve a fair chance in life?
Since July 2013 we subcontracted our schools’ management to Hampshire, with the head of children’s services earning almost £200,000 a year. Let’s waste no more time and money on that deal; we should tear up the Hampshire contract immediately and demand the government helps us find the solution to these problems – and funds it!
And before you dismiss this as something that doesn’t affect you because you don’t have school-age kids, this affects our entire economy. How can local businesses thrive if the youngsters they employ can’t read, spell or add up accurately? Who will invest in an area where education standards are the worst in the country? Why would people of talent move here when our state schools can’t provide a decent education for their children?
It’s high time Islanders got angry – and our politicians listened.