8 Apr, 2012 @ 15:00
1 min read

Fine schools for illiterate kids

SCHOOLS should be fined if they fail to teach pupils how to read and write, insists a hard-hitting report on the riots which tore the UK apart last year.

They should be punished if children remain illiterate when they move to secondary schools, it said.

It found that a fifth of school leavers at 16 have literacy levels at or below that of 11-year-olds.

The study by Britain’s Riots, Communities and Victims Panel also blamed poor parenting for the rioting, which ended in five deaths last August.

“We heard from many communities who felt that rioter behaviour could ultimately be ascribed to poor parenting,” said the report.

It also pointed the finger at a lack of confidence in police and a materialistic society.

Wendy Williams

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4 Comments

  1. Is there any evidence that the children and young people concerned want to learn to read and write ? Many are probably dreaming of being football stars, or of winning X-Factor.

  2. Of course kids want to be able to read and write. How else are they going to use Facebook, Twitter and texting? Fining schools is as futile as fining companies for “accidental” deaths. Punishment for crap teaching and crap business practices needs to be made personal. Somebody is always responsible, therefore that person or persons must be made to carry the can. Sack rubbish teachers, withdraw their pensions and leave them in the same state they condemned their unfortunate pupils to, that is, gormless and broke. Same goes for crooked, careless business people. It’s too easy for this scum to hide behind “the system”.

  3. Hang on a minute, folk.Children really do learn at different rates. Rather than running around with a big stick,the Government should make sure Secondary Schools support those kids who are just getting the idea of reading and writing. At present many Secondaries expect all the new intake to have the same level of competence, and kids who would have got the hang of things with another year of literacy support fall hopelessly behind.

  4. Of course children learn at different rates, but there’s no excuse for not spotting a struggling pupil before they hit secondary school.To quote Michel Thomas, master language teacher, “There’s no such thing as a bad pupil, just bad teachers”. A big stick is definitely in order for those guys, teachers I mean, the kids will get enough stick.

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