It's official, English kids are the stupidest in the developed world

I despair, I really do. The OECD's report (2012 data) has put English children 23rd out of 23 for literacy, and 22nd out of 23 for numeracy.

All our children are born with a more or less equal chance at education so something's going wrong and it's either parents or teachers, or both.

Don't start making excuses because while you do the children from other countries will be getting on with being cleverer and being more successful as ours sit on their arrises wondering what's going on as their standard of living slips away, and your chance of a decent retirement goes down the swanny with the millions of stupid young people we've created.

Already we've got "nine million people of working age with low literacy or numeracy skills". That's not other people's kids, it's YOURS that are the stupid ones compared to the kids in Poland, the Slovak Republic and Latvia.

Our children deserve better. It's totally, utterly, completely, shameful.

Young people in England are the most illiterate in the developed world with many students graduating with only a basic grasp of English and maths, an in-depth analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has found.

 

The OECD report rated English teenagers aged 16 to 19 the worst of 23 developed nations in literacy and 22nd of 23 in numeracy. In contrast, pensioners or those close to retirement were among the highest-ranked of their age group.

 

England had nine million people of working age with low literacy or numeracy skills, it said.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/young-people-england-have-lowest-literacy-levels-developed-world-says-oecd-1540711

I despair, I really do. The OECD's report (2012 data) has put English children 23rd out of 23 for literacy, and 22nd out of 23 for numeracy.

Perhaps Michael Gove sorted it?

Perhaps Michael Gove sorted it?

How would he have done that in 2012? Bingo, you fail in both numeracy and literacy.

---------- Post added 30-01-2016 at 15:12 ----------

Then this sort of thing is printed in The Times.

Public pools in Germany have begun handing out flyers bearing cartoons intended to show migrants how to behave after receiving complaints about offensive and dangerous behaviour.

 

The new arrivals are warned not to harass women, wear underwear rather than swimming trunks and dive in at the deep end if they cannot swim. The illustrations have German captions with subtitles in English and Arabic.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4677998.ece

I despair, I really do. The OECD's report (2012 data) has put English children 23rd out of 23 for literacy, and 22nd out of 23 for numeracy.

 

All our children are born with a more or less equal chance at education so something's going wrong and it's either parents or teachers, or both.

 

Don't start making excuses because while you do the children from other countries will be getting on with being cleverer and being more successful as ours sit on their arrises wondering what's going on as their standard of living slips away, and your chance of a decent retirement goes down the swanny with the millions of stupid young people we've created.

 

Already we've got "nine million people of working age with low literacy or numeracy skills". That's not other people's kids, it's YOURS that are the stupid ones compared to the kids in Poland, the Slovak Republic and Latvia.

Our children deserve better. It's totally, utterly, completely, shameful.

 

 

 

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/young-people-england-have-lowest-literacy-levels-developed-world-says-oecd-1540711

1. More or less equal chance at education? Disagree, but I take your point so happy to move on from that one.

2. It is worrying that we would come bottom, but theres always a flurry of these reports. It does focus on a particular group 16-19 year olds so sixth formers really. I would just say its a bit misleading grouping all kids together as many do well, but we have an alarming number who lack the basic skills. As the report highlights it would be better if they went into further rather than higher education. Theres an expectation people go to uni, perhaps a condition on entrance and being given a grant should have minimum attaintment standards?

3. You need to be careful with the 9 million figure because that includes all ages 16-65 and not just the 16-19 group. It would be nice if we could encourage more people to go back into further education to help them acquire these skills.

---------- Post added 30-01-2016 at 15:21 ----------

So youve changed it from an education thread into an asylum seeker one. Nice.

1. More or less equal chance at education? Disagree, but I take your point so happy to move on from that one.

 

2. It is worrying that we would come bottom, but theres always a flurry of these reports. It does focus on a particular group 16-19 year olds so sixth formers really. I would just say its a bit misleading grouping all kids together as many do well, but we have an alarming number who lack the basic skills. As the report highlights it would be better if they went into further rather than higher education. Theres an expectation people go to uni, perhaps a condition on entrance and being given a grant should have minimum attaintment standards?

3. You need to be careful with the 9 million figure because that includes all ages 16-65 and not just the 16-19 group. It would be nice if we could encourage more people to go back into further education to help them acquire these skills.

 

---------- Post added 30-01-2016 at 15:21 ----------

 

So youve changed it from an education thread into an asylum seeker one. Nice.

Why only sixth formers? Just because they've left school doesn't mean they don't count or aren't assessed vocationally.

How would he have done that in 2012? Bingo, you fail in both numeracy and literacy.

I was referring to changes made after these tests, I am one of Thatchers children, all hope for good literacy is well gone

I was referring to changes made after these tests, I am one of Thatchers children, all hope for good literacy is well gone

Which one....... Mark or Carol ?

Why only sixth formers? Just because they've left school doesn't mean they don't count or aren't assessed vocationally.

You are quite right tinfoil. I was just reading the report and bits that deal with university entrance. the more imprtant or just as importnat group are the group that leave education.

A failure to sustain education post 16 and the deep-rooted problems of poverty and social inequality have been blamed for England's poor showing in the OECD survey of adult skills.

 

The results of the OECD survey, which put England close to the bottom in literacy and numeracy among 16-24 year olds among developed nations, comes despite – or perhaps in part owing to – decades of permanent revolution aimed at improving the education system.

 

But the problem, say those who study the subject, may not just lie in England's schools but in the lack of encouragement and opportunity for people who are falling behind to study once they have left.

 

The OECD found not just low levels of achievement in numeracy and literacy tests among the population as a whole, but strikingly poor results among the 16 to 24-year-old age group. According to the survey, England's young adults performed on a par with their 55-65 year-old counterparts in literacy and numeracy – in contrast to the other countries in the survey, who saw young adults outperform their older brethren in one or both categories.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/08/oecd-adult-literacy-numeracy-uk-poverty-inequality

Sure the Mail will get on this and we can go back to Rote learning and getting the Chinese back in. I note Korea and japan are near the top, but it seems like we could leanr soemthing from the Fins and the Dutch who do very well.

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-29/british-youngsters-most-illiterate-in-developed-world/

Key findings from the report:

 

England has three times more low-skilled people among those aged 16-19 than the best-performing countries like Finland and Japan

Around one in ten of all university students in England have numeracy or literacy levels below level 2

English 15 year-olds have similar literacy levels to their counterparts but by 20-22 their literacyskills appear to fall behind

 

What the OECD recommends should be done about the issue?

 

A key OECD recommendation from the report, which also identifies one in ten English university students as having weaknesses in their literacy and numeracy, is that students who struggle with numeracy and literacy issues should not continue on to university.

 

Those with low basic skills should not normally enter three year undergraduate programmes, which are both costly and unsuited to the educational needs of those involved, while graduates with poor basic skills undermine the currency of an English university degree.

 

These potential entrants should be diverted into more suitable provision that meets their needs.

 

– OECD

You are quite right tinfoil. I was just reading the report and bits that deal with university entrance. the more imprtant or just as importnat group are the group that leave education.

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/08/oecd-adult-literacy-numeracy-uk-poverty-inequality

 

Sure the Mail will get on this and we can go back to Rote learning and getting the Chinese back in. I note Korea and japan are near the top, but it seems like we could leanr soemthing from the Fins and the Dutch who do very well.

 

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-29/british-youngsters-most-illiterate-in-developed-world/

I listened to a piece on radio on how tough the South Korean education system is. Ours needs improving but 6 day a week 12 to 15 hour days are not the way to go.

I listened to a piece on radio on how tough the South Korean education system is. Ours needs improving but 6 day a week 12 to 15 hour days are not the way to go.

Its sad for the kids who dont make the grade and such a waste. The point of interest was that we seem comparable at 15, but in the next phase up thats when people fail to progress. The reports 550 pages long, which I cnat say im too keen to read so just going off articles and what i could skim.

Its sad for the kids who dont make the grade and such a waste. The point of interest was that we seem comparable at 15, but in the next phase up thats when people fail to progress. The reports 550 pages long, which I cnat say im too keen to read so just going off articles and what i could skim.

Is it down to the kids themselves and/or our culture then?

What do you mean by "make the grade?"

Is it down to the kids themselves and/or our culture then?

Must be a lot of things.

The report does talk about kids leaving education entirely.

Progressing to Uni before they are ready.

Not having very good procedures once they start to fall behind.

Also some kids being better off going into further rather than higher education.

Im all for kids being held behind a year until they progress.

Heres another article on skills disparity by a UCL study

https://www.ioe.ac.uk/newsEvents/111871.html

The authors explain that the high inequality in literacy and numeracy skills "is not due to the most able doing exceptionally well, but rather because of the familiar long tail of under-achievers." Amongst 25-34 year-olds, for instance, almost a fifth (19 percent) score below level 2 in numeracy on the OECD's six level scale. Level 2 capability is considered to be the very minimum level at which people are able to function effectively in modern societies. This is compared with 11-13 percent in German-speaking, Nordic and central and eastern European (CEE) countries, and only seven percent in East Asian countries.

 

The study shows that England – along with the other English-speaking countries included (Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the USA) – is relatively poor at closing skills gaps after age 15. Countries, like Austria and Germany, with Dual Systems of Apprenticeship (three-year apprenticeship combining work-based training and education), and other countries with high rates of upper secondary completion, like most of the Nordic and CEE countries, appear to have better systems in place to close the skills gap.

 

The authors say that "the key to reducing skills inequality during the upper secondary phase is to have everyone completing two or three year programmes of study in either general or vocational education. The additional years studying mathematics and the national language help lower achievers to narrow the skills gaps in literacy and numeracy." Having higher participation rates and a better social mix in vocational courses, as in Germany and some Nordic countries, also seems conducive to reducing skills inequality.

 

The authors found that the high rate of early school leavers in England and some other English- speaking countries led to too many young people taking short, low quality vocational courses that give too little dedicated time to improving their English and mathematics skills. Having relatively high participation in higher education does not seem to compensate for the failure of upper secondary education to reduce the skills gap, they say, because the inequality is mostly due to lower achievers who do not benefit from higher education.