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Ministers should reform the secondary college curriculum in England to handle “evident omissions” on local weather change and digital literacy, in accordance with a evaluate of the training system for 11- to 16-year-olds by a prime examination board.
Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR) on Wednesday known as for the creation of an impartial physique to take care of a “way more modern and forward-looking” curriculum that displays the “variety of contemporary Britain”.
The findings of the OCR report, led by former training secretary Charles Clarke, come because the Labour authorities consults on a proposed overhaul of the varsity curriculum, with specialists calling for gradual reform after a long time of rare “huge bang modifications”.
Clarke advised the Monetary Instances that ministers wanted to make sure continuous curriculum reform that was not “topic to the whim of political fantasy”.
“We have to transfer away from this concept {that a} new secretary of state is available in after which there’s a giant set of modifications,” he stated. “The system can’t be all of the sudden remodeled by some silver bullet. It’s bought to be evolution, not revolution.”
The evaluate known as on authorities to “present management and a way of urgency” by recognising “evident omissions” on local weather change and sustainability extra explicitly within the curriculum.
Alongside updates to make syllabuses extra reflective of social variety, it really helpful reinstating digital literacy, highlighting the necessity for training concerning the moral use of social media and the suitable use of synthetic intelligence.
Clarke stated that whereas he hoped the findings would feed into the federal government evaluate being led by Becky Francis, chief government of the Schooling Endowment Basis charity, it was vital to have cross-party consensus on reform.
“It’s tough to get an agreed technique of transferring ahead except each opposition and authorities agree,” he added.
The Division for Schooling stated “excessive and rising requirements are on the coronary heart of the federal government’s mission to interrupt down the obstacles to alternative”.
The evaluate led by Francis would “take into account how to make sure younger individuals get the chance to entry a broad and balanced curriculum” and “work to ship a system that balances completely different evaluation strategies alongside the significance of exams”, it added.
Damian Hinds, Conservative shadow training secretary, stated England had one of many world’s main training methods.
“In contrast, the final Labour authorities’s erosion of requirements noticed us fall down the worldwide rankings. They need to not repeat this for the sake of ideology, and we are going to maintain them to account on it,” he stated.
Along with curriculum reform, Clarke known as for brand spanking new digital maths and English assessments to be launched for 14-year-olds in an effort to present a “structured focus” within the first few years of secondary training.
“A big variety of kids are leaving college with out the fundamental foundational competences in English and maths,” he stated. “The concept you take care of that by remedial work and resits on the age of 17 or 18 appears fairly fallacious. You have to be taking a look at what you are able to do earlier than you even get to GCSEs.”
About 40 per cent of scholars did not move maths GCSE this yr, with an identical price for English, in accordance with information printed final month that confirmed widening regional disparities.
The Royal Society on Tuesday additionally known as for an overhaul of maths training, warning that the UK risked being “left within the sluggish lane”.
Sir Martin Taylor, chair of the Royal Society advisory committee on arithmetic training, criticised the requirement of those that failed GCSE maths to re-take exams repeatedly as “one of many biggest scandals”.
The OCR evaluate really helpful reducing the period and variety of exams for maths GCSE and instructed transferring some “extra demanding” content material into further {qualifications} taken by excessive achievers.
Clarke stated the problems with maths mirrored a broader overreliance on exams and “overloaded” content material at GCSE degree, with the typical 16-year-old in England sitting greater than 31 hours of exams, excess of their worldwide friends.
The OCR report really helpful rebalancing the system by scheduling exams over an extended time interval and reviewing the usage of different types of evaluation.
Daniel Kebede, common secretary of the Nationwide Schooling Union, stated the report added to proof that the examination system was “not match for function”.
