The Secretary of State for English Education, Scotsman, Michael Gove, has, it seems from this report, formally recognised that uniform educational standards and exam boards, etc., cannot be maintained across the various nations of the “United Kingdom”.
(This is the same Scot who, despite representing an English Parliamentary seat, said in February last year:- "When some of my colleagues say we need to re-visit the West Lothian Question or we need to have a new settlement that is fairer to people in England, I say 'no, remember the bigger picture'.")
The article below is interesting as an instance of the institutional collapse of the concept of Britishness and recognition of the fact by the principal mouthpiece of Britishness and also
one of its most self interested cheerleaders.
England's exam changes have not been accepted in Wales and Northern Ireland.
The education minister in Wales, Leighton Andrews, says Wales will not give up the GCSE brand for exams.
"The time is right for us to acknowledge the three-country regulation of GCSEs and A-levels is no longer an objective towards which we should be working," wrote Mr Gove.
He also raised the question of what such separated qualifications should be called - saying that the "titling issue" of different types of A-level and GCSE needed to be resolved.
Mr Gove also indicated last week that the grading of exams could be changed in England, moving away from the grading by letters - such as A*, A, B, C - and adopting a numerical ranking of 1,2,3 and so on.
Mr Gove, who met Leighton Andrews and Northern Ireland's education minister John O'Dowd last week, said the changes would mean "very different qualifications".
The mutual agreement over qualifications had already been strained - with divided views over last summer's disputed GCSE English results.
And there had been complaints that Wales and Northern Ireland had not been included in decisions about changing exams in England.
But instead of resolving such tensions, it now seems that Mr Gove believes the paths are dividing in a way that cannot be bridged.
"That is a natural and legitimate consequence of devolution," says Mr Gove's letter.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22609674
As people become more aware of what is happening, the value that they place on the Union of the United Kingdom will, I suspect, decline still further.
As long ago as 2011 the pollsters, Com Res were reporting that 36% of people in England supported English independence regardless of what happens in Scotland. That figure will certainly be considerably greater now.
Below is the article.
What do you think?
UK shared exam system faces break up
The shared A-level and GCSE
system for England, Wales and Northern Ireland has taken a significant step
towards being broken up.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has written to education ministers in
Wales and Northern Ireland saying the joint exam system no longer has a
future.England's exam changes have not been accepted in Wales and Northern Ireland.
The education minister in Wales, Leighton Andrews, says Wales will not give up the GCSE brand for exams.
"The time is right for us to acknowledge the three-country regulation of GCSEs and A-levels is no longer an objective towards which we should be working," wrote Mr Gove.
He also raised the question of what such separated qualifications should be called - saying that the "titling issue" of different types of A-level and GCSE needed to be resolved.
Mr Gove said he had received advice from England's
exam regulator Ofqual saying that it will be "very difficult, if not impossible,
to maintain comparable standards when the structure, content and even grading of
these qualifications are diverging to such an extent".
Changes to A-levels and GCSEs in England, such as scrapping the modular
structure and proposed changes to subject content, are not being followed by the
devolved education systems in Wales and Northern Ireland.Mr Gove also indicated last week that the grading of exams could be changed in England, moving away from the grading by letters - such as A*, A, B, C - and adopting a numerical ranking of 1,2,3 and so on.
Mr Gove, who met Leighton Andrews and Northern Ireland's education minister John O'Dowd last week, said the changes would mean "very different qualifications".
The mutual agreement over qualifications had already been strained - with divided views over last summer's disputed GCSE English results.
And there had been complaints that Wales and Northern Ireland had not been included in decisions about changing exams in England.
But instead of resolving such tensions, it now seems that Mr Gove believes the paths are dividing in a way that cannot be bridged.
"That is a natural and legitimate consequence of devolution," says Mr Gove's letter.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22609674
The English alphabet
ReplyDelete"E" is for English ?
Now it means:
"E" is for Europe !
This factor has implications for employment, not only of those leaving school in England, but also for their counterparts in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. How will large British organisations such as banks, insurance companies, the civil and armed services etc react? Small employers in England will become more familiar with the English grading system and may well tend to favour job applicants possessing them.
ReplyDeleteThis situation seems likely to promote rather than to deter continue fragmentation of the UK. Is the 'brilliant' Caledonian Mr Gove conscious of the likely consequences of his actions? If he is, I doubt that he cares. When his chickens come home to roost in the form of Scots and Welsh seeking jobs in England squawking about being unfairly treated (ie by-passed), Gove can be expected to be 'lording' it elsewhere in the Palace of Westminster!
Robin
ReplyDeleteI know this is off topic but I've been alerted to a book which shows that the UK has been working with Islamists since the 1930s. It not only makes me sick but I am saddened by it. This is WHY we have so many hard muslim fanatics in the UK because our government has been supporting them.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Affairs-Britains-Collusion-Radical/dp/1846687640
I no longer want to be a British subject, I want to be English ONLY. I hope Scotland votes 'Yes' next now.
francis
I am still beginning to wonder whether Hitler knew that Marxism was to be used to bring about One World Government even then and noted a heavy Jewish involvement therein so punished the whole of Jewry for the sins of the few. Perhaps he also knew that One World Government would necessitate the removal of those pesky individualistic and gifted Europeans. Perhaps this has been planned for the last 100 years. His response was to promote them as the master race. Or, I have often wondered, was he working for the creators of One World Government by ensuring that self-perservation for Europeans would not be an option because he would making racialism taboo? Was he then just betrayed by those who were backing him. Nobody will ever know the truth. I believe that Churchill knew the overall plan but could see Hitler for what he was. With Churchill - if he had been young enough - we might have escaped the move to the New World Order but once he was gone they would have carried on regardless. Today we learn that Mr Chaudary and his family are getting police protection. This is the gentleman who hates us but is being paid more to do nothing than Gunner Lee Rigby was being paid. Will Cherie Blair be representing his killers? And we are paying solicitors to represent the killers of British soldiers held at Camp Bastion. Britain is heading for the looney bin or is it just part of the plan to destroy us and the rest of Europe to further the New World Order.
DeleteYes,
DeleteI do think Hitler was used by the NWO. I now think that it will be a miracle if we survive but there are again we were lucky to survive WWII.
For too long we have been blaming the Jews, OK many Jews were part of the NWO but there are now many Jews who detest the NWO.
I would say that we only have 5 years (10 at a push) left to fight without recourse to Civil War, and after this time our problems will only be resolved by the outcomes from war.
The Left, of course have always wanted war albeit with them hiding behind the bullet proof wall with everyone else suffering.
I don't actually believe that muslims will continue voting Labour on masse for much longer - they will vote for Repect and in time Respect will become a Muslim only party.
It is now time for the EDP, UKIP and BNP to put their differences aside because the hour is very very late.
Scotland is now receiving a heavy dose of mass immigration and it will probably have its ethnic majority cities within a decade or so.
I am not sure whether or not NWO succeeds but people everywhere now understand what is going on.
francis
Will Gove have 'Englishness' as a compulsory subject? I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteFor many years their has been an educational divide between England and Scotland. They get more money and receive fewer immigrants. They have highers, not 'A' levels and teachers from England cannot automatically work in Scottish schools. I suspect the history curriculum is narrative.
ReplyDeleteThe debate about independence merely serves the English cause as it points out that we are unfairly treat in many departments.
It is the ENGLISH who should be given a vote on independence.
ReplyDeleteAlas, the racist, anti ENGLISH Lib-Lab-Tory pact of failure, incompetance, corruption and treason will never let it happen.
As for the Scots they will not vote for independence in a million years.
They know which side their bread is buttered, they also know they cannot survive without the ENGLISH pound!!
Cry ENGLAND..................
Let us campaign for another logical consequence of devolution, the break-up of the BBC so that each nation can have its own broadcaster; their people to decide if they want a State financed corporation in the manner of the BBC or to leave it to the market.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact of Scotland receiving fewer immigrants might be changing rapidly. Remember that Scotland has more muslims per head of population than England and Pakistanis are pouring into Glasgow and even Aberdeen. On the news the other day the police were seeking six black men in Edinburgh after a shooting incident. I did not even realise they had any there. And when Alex Salmond gets his independence he is going to open Scotland's doors to the world. Perhaps we should then close the border!!
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish independence question is rapidly becoming a dead duck. A mere bit of a nudge by the unionists has set panic among the faux nationalists. I'm afraid we are just going to end up giving more money and more power to the Scottish parliament.
ReplyDeleteThe only way the Scots will get independence is if we are allowed to vote.
Nigel Farage has been quiet lately too. Perhaps he's still licking his wounds after his visit to Scotland. His naivete in believing in a united kingdom party is truly staggering. The Scots will just think he is another posh English tory and hate him for it and have no truck with the kippers, similarly the Welsh.