There is always a negative spin put by the media on any set of government statistics, good or bad, which makes the recent protestations of the Guardian of Statistical Integrity so laughable. But any fair reading of today's GCSE data shows some real improvements in the system (although of course there is still much to do).
There are now just 440 schools with fewer than 30% five good GCSEs - including English and Maths - compared with 1600 when Michael Gove's lot were still in power (he has the cheek to bemoan the fact that "too many children are still being educated at schools which the prime minister classes as 'failing".)
Equally impressively, academies are leading the way, with improvements overall at twice the national average last year including English and Maths, and a 15-point improvement since 2001 in some of the poorest schools in the country. (The improvements are bigger still for any GCSEs).
I don't imagine there will be much cheering in the media for these results. But the teachers and pupils in the schools involved deserve real credit for their achievements.
No comments:
Post a Comment