Education has suffered severe cuts since 2010 but what has been even more detrimental is that there has been very little Reform on the education system within the last 100 years. Whether it was the switch from O levels to GCSEs or more recent reforms in the grading system plus other changes with grammar schools or the free schools. Despite the changes and reforms, none of them have done much to combat the decrease in standard of education.
Most of the changes by any party over the decades have been largely cosmetic and fail to address the problems within the fundamental base of the education system.
Furthermore, the curriculum is set by central government, who don't understand the various local communities around the country.
Real reform is necessary
Education is vital for a cohesive society and has a huge impact on the economy. From a personal perspective, history is something that isn't taught to a high standard in most schools, in fact, it leaves out most of the atrocities caused by Britain across the world and close by in Ireland and Scotland. It paints this picture of how 'great' Britain is despite the number of murders committed across the world and at home, in a bid for power and wealth.
But away from history, politics is not taught from an early enough stage, there is very little understanding on how everything works.
Luckily, we are living within a period where more young people are getting involved. Furthermore, education only tends to focus on national politics rather than local communities where schools and colleges are based, this leaves a democratic deficit because people then only vote based on a national agenda, when their local communities are the ones that provide the vast number of services they use, of course, central government provide the base and funding but they have little understanding of what each community needs as they differ from each location, the needs of rural Dorset will differ greatly from central London.
The actual teaching of subjects is a problem because it doesn't provide enough information on real world aspects. For example, Finland changed its system to topics that would see courses such as cafeteria services, which would encompass maths, languages, writing skills and communication skills or cross-subjects topics such as the European Union which would involve economics, history, languages and geography.
These topics provide a base on what people will do with their lives in the future and provide a base knowledge that improves inclusiveness within society.
Our education system needs to look to this idea to improve the country's prospects, furthermore, it needs to be run by local communities because they are the ones who know what their schools need to focus on. Our system is archaic and punishes those who don't show academic potential from a very young age, even though every person develops at a different pace.
