Education in 2007 in both Britain and America seems to have become more interested in statistical analysis and achievement competition than actual education. Too much pressure is put on the teachers to complete paper work, attend 'method' classes and focus on politically correct ways to teach, than to actually do the job of educator. Equally, the governments of both Britain and America, not satisfied with working the teachers to the bone, are now more determined than ever to make schools days for the children, 'the worst of their lives'. Constant examinations to separate the sheep from the goats and move the more intelligent up levels, while leaving those considered less bright to repeat a year, should they fail, in most cases through no fault of their own. The pressure is just too much and education seems to have taken a secondary position below statistics.

I understand that teachers need to know how well their pupils are doing, that's why internal exams were originally used at the end of each term, so that all teachers could see the areas their charges needed extra help in. Now the government wants to stick their ore into the process and label both teachers and pupils as bad or underachieving.

Some children learn through a more practical educational based learning system, teachers are perfectly qualified to identify those pupils and recommend the form of education that will benefit that student. Others are 'high-flyers' that find studying intense books very easy, they achieve the highest results and are considered the Albert Einstein's of the world, not because they are any better than those who need different help in different areas, but because they conform to the way the government imposes their view of a good education on people.

Teachers, apart from being underpaid, (which has always been the case), teach because they have a calling to do so. Once again, governments put immense pressure on them to complete paperwork that is irrelevant to teaching and bares no practical sense or use to the student, only the government.

One teacher told me the other day that her summer holiday has consisted of attending classes on education, to learn things she already knew, working through paperwork on standards, so the government can feel they care, and writing next term's & next year's complete lessons plans so she can submit them at the first staff meeting. My friend has three young children, they also need her attention, but because of the mass of useless paperwork throughout the terms and holidays, they suffer.

When is the government going to realise that teachers, once trained to teach, are perfectly capable of teaching. All they need to do is arrange a teacher's conference once a year that teachers can attend and teach other teachers new methods they have learnt from previous years? It happens in other industries, why not teaching. When will the government let teachers teach and stop basing everything on statistics that even the best annalists have no idea what they are for?

When will the government stop putting unnecessary pressure on children to learn? Learning should be fun. Forcing children to do things is like taking a horse to water and trying to force it to drink. When will the government realise, you can produce more Albert Einstein's if you care, not pressurise children? Let them learn and let the teachers teach. Get government out of education! What good has government ever been in things it never understood to begin with? Crumbs, they can't even sort out the health service, how on earth do they think they are going to be able to help in education?

Learn more about this author, Richard E. Grant.
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