Friday, October 21, 2005

Praise Ruth

Every so often Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, makes a change for the better for which she deserves praise.

From 2007, school league tables will be based on the top five GCSE passes for candidates but two of the five must be actual GCSE qualifications at grade C or above in English and maths.

Their inclusion will force schools to focus additional time and resources on these core skills.
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5 comments:

Alfie said...

Sorry - no can do.
Ruth Kelly is rubbish - the same as all the rest.
The endless, endless communiques from Edu-HQ just piss me off.

For instance, the school meals communique - the way she announced that over 250 million quid was being released by the Government - to great trumpeting and fanfares........

Pity she didn't have the good grace to tell us exactly where the cash was coming from. Why, gordon's favourite piggy bank - the National Lottery coffers of course!!!

And what did she do with the cash? Why set up yet another quango - they in turn will set up numerous groups, busybodies and ne'r do wells to do a whole heap of nutritional research, claim a ton of expenses and waste the cash.....

Experts have estimated that school kids will receive a fraction of the money promised - most of it being spent on suited administration....

11:45 am
Snafu said...

Alfie

Admittedly it's the only thing she can be praised for. Rather than be entirely negative about her, I thought that she should be given credit at least once!

I didn't realise the school meals quango was funded by the national lottery. Have you got a link for this?

How can the National Lottery fund a blatantly political scheme? Their funds are not legally allowed to be a substitute for state funding!

12:23 pm
Anonymous said...

I would welcome a sensible move from the government on just about anything so I will join you Snafu in regarding this as a good decision.

But let's not get too carried away. The school tables are a joke and she's only putting right something that shouldn't have been wrong in the first place.

I love the way she describes her action as 'reforming the school tables' - as if she hadn't messed them up in the first place. It's like me doing my work wrong at the office and telling my boss, 'worry not, I shall reform it...'

I'd like to see those school meals links too. It would be a scandal if they were being financed from the Loterry....

2:10 pm
Alfie said...

Snafu - I have sent you an email with the links you asked for - (it was too big to go in comments - let me know if you haven't got it`)....

7:29 pm
Snafu said...

Alfie, Thanks for your email. I enclose it in full below:

Hi Snafu - Further to your request, I've tried to bung this on your comments but without success - so I'm emailing it to you. (Maybe the comments has got a maximum word bar on?) [Alfie, I don't think it does!]

Here is a link

They are admitting to 60 mill from the big lott fund. But will not say where the rest is coming. The cash just sort of 'appeared'.... The smart money is that they are getting that from the lottery as well.

These explain New Labour's changing of the rules on who gets and where the cash goes
[and here]...

The filching started with the Millenium Dome - and once those little buggers had found the keys, well control would be impossible. - Like a fox in a hen coop, they'd just keep on going back until it was all gone.

John Major, the architect of the lottery - recently expressed his dismay and utter contempt at the way New Labour had changed the rules for lottery funding.... good causes, arts, sports, charities etc out - diminished - Health and Education in - expanding

Major accused them of funding stuff with lottery cash that should ALWAYS be funded through central taxes.

So unfortunately, your comment 'How can the National Lottery fund a blatantly political scheme? Their funds are not legally allowed to be a substitute for state funding!'.... used to be correct - but is now out of date. The new rules are now ensconced in legislation - the jackboots of New Labour continue to stamp on the fabric of this country....


Regards,

Alfie.

9:10 am

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