The main problem identified above stems from two key causes, the fact pupils have missed a significant proportion of learning time and their attitude to education has become increasingly apathetic as the gap between their ability and content taught has significantly widened. I believe the only way to fix this problem is to restructure our education system. The restructure would take on two main forms; firstly, the removal of GCSEs as a means of necessary testing and secondly, classes would be grouped based on ability rather than age.
Our current education system places GCSEs at the forefront, to such a large extent that most if not all jobs within the UK require a Maths and English GCSE at grade 5 or above. However, the content within these GCSEs do not reflect their usage in everyday life as students do not need to understand the inner workings of trigonometry or contrast one poem from another to be able to work most jobs. Students recognise this during their studies so their drive to learn the content is dampened as they do not see a direct relation to the content and their current or future lives. The large content within GCSEs is also difficult to teach under normal time restrictions. However, under COVID-19 not only is time a limited resource, teaching during a pandemic does not allow teachers to check for understanding in the usual way, whether this is in a socially distanced classroom or during online learning. Therefore, GCSEs should not be seen as the necessary markers for entry-level jobs, rather students should develop functional skills that are essential in everyday life. The new education system would only require a functional skills test for students to be able to apply for most entry-level jobs that at the moment require a GCSE in Maths and English at level 5 or above. I believe this is the way forward as it would lift up lower ability pupils, that do not have the capability to achieve GCSEs, to be able to enter the workforce rather than leaving them behind for not understanding a skill they will never have to use beyond GCSEs. Higher ability pupils could and would still be encouraged to take their GCSEs and advance onto further study. This would change student perception towards their schooling as all necessary education would be seen as directly linked to their wider lives while any further study in a subject would stem from a clear interest in the topic and the desire for further academic study.
The second change I would make to the education system to fix the knowledge gap and students’ attitudes to learning would be to group pupils based on ability rather than age. The current system forces students to work beyond their ability level until they reach Year 11 where they may fail their GCSEs and lose a lot of support from the education system. The substantial workload of GCSEs dilutes student understanding of the core skills within each subject as pupils are continuously required to learn new content rather than solidify their current knowledge. If students were grouped by ability rather than age the overwhelming content would prove less devastating to those lower ability pupils. For example, you cannot expect a student to be able to analyse Pride and Prejudice if they lack fundamental reading and literacy skills. The same can be said for almost any subject if a student is not confident in the foundational skills, they will not be able to effectively progress. The new system would allow a Year 9 pupil who has a Year 11 Maths ability and a Year 8 literacy ability, to take their Maths GCSE early, while staying a year behind in English to ensure they achieve a solid understanding of literacy before progressing further in the subject. I believe this would fundamentally change students’ attitudes to learning because it would require them to take more responsibility in their education while allowing them the time to build upon those functional skills. When combined with the removal of GCSEs as the necessary testing pupils would not feel overwhelmed or stressed at achieving a goal so far out of their reach.
Overall, the two changes presented above would completely rewrite the education system in favour of lower ability pupils who are being left behind by wider society. The changes would not affect higher ability students as they would still be encouraged to advance academically. The overall stress of GCSEs would decrease while pupil’s interest and drive to learn would dramatically increase as they would see the direct relationship between school and real life. This new system would also be able to adapt to future strains on the education system such as another pandemic as it focuses on students’ current ability rather than their age. Through building an education system that focuses on allowing pupils to succeed for modern life rather than overwhelming them with outdated content setting them up for failure, would create an everlasting and immeasurable change throughout society.
2023-11