LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Prime Minister's comments yesterday on education spending miss the point, as the secondary education system also needs a major overhaul. Firstly, the system only views the weakest learners as having special needs. The brightest and most conscientious students are not encouraged to develop to their full (23)_____.

Secondly, there's too much testing and not enough learning. My fifteen-year-old daughter, for example, has just spent the last month or so (24)_____ for exams. These aren't even real, important exams, as her GCSEs will be next year. They're just mock exams. Is the work she's been doing really going to make her more knowledgeable about her subjects, or will she forget it all tomorrow? I suspect the (25)_____. Thirdly, the standard (26)_____ doesn't give students any tuition in developing practical work-related, living and social skills, or in skills necessary for higher education. How many students entering university have the first idea what the difference is between plagiarising someone else's work and (27)_____ good use of someone else's ideas? Shouldn't they have been taught this at school? How many of them are really able to go about selfstudy skill that's essential at university because there are no teachers to tell you what to do - in an efficient way? Indeed, hoe many students graduate from university totally unable to spell even simple English words correctly? The system is letting our children down.

The brightest and most conscientious students are not encouraged to develop to their full (23)_____.