Britain's falling maths and reading standards

[filosofee]

Britain's children now find themselves below Estonia and Poland in reading skills, in 17th place from 57 countries, and 24th place in maths skills, in a study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The study attempted to find "how well school-children apply their knowledge in real life rather than in terms of regurgitating facts and figures".

Taiwan topped the maths table, Korea's children were tops in reading.

What do forummers believe is the cause in lower numeracy and literacy skills of British children, despite massive funding of education. Is it the quality of teachers; is it the methods of teaching; access to TV and computer games?

What do you think?

[Oxy]

Yet GCSE and A Level pass rates go up year after year after year.

[filosofee]

Originally Posted by Oxy Yet GCSE and A Level pass rates go up year after year after year.

Have the comparative value of them decreased over the years?

Are these passes in mostly non-maths and science related subjects?

Employers conduct graduate training programmes, to distinguish between the quality of students and appropriate skills. Guess these weren't always done, except, perhaps, in the higher civil service.