When entering government Chancellor George Osborne insisted the cull in public sector employment the Coalition was scheduling, would be more than compensated by the increase in private sector jobs. In many ways Osborne has been true to his word –in the run up to his Conservative Party Conference speech he made much of the fact … Continue reading George Osborne’s ‘One million new private sector jobs’
Author: Martin Allen
Miliband’s proposals for ‘Training without Jobs’
A Tech-Bacc by itself isn’t going to help the ‘forgotten 50 %’ who don’t go to university. Neither is it going to raise the status of vocational education. It fits well with and legitimates, rather than challenges, Gove’s plans for creating more elitist academic qualifications. It also dovetails many of the proposals from the Wolf … Continue reading Miliband’s proposals for ‘Training without Jobs’
Contribution to ‘The Riots One Year On’, London South Bank University Conference
Contribution to ‘The Riots One Year On, A One Day Conference’ 28th September, London South Bank University RUNNING FROM THE RIOTS – UP A DOWN-ESCALATOR IN THE MIDDLE OF A CLASS STRUCTURE GONE PEAR-SHAPED Patrick Ainley and Martin Allen Abstract This paper updates one presented to the British Sociological Association Youth Study Group in … Continue reading Contribution to ‘The Riots One Year On’, London South Bank University Conference
A reactionary, not a ‘moderniser’
Michael Gove and 'Reforming Key Stage 4 Qualifications' Despite his polished performance in the Commons – in the absence of any real Labour opposition – Michael Gove is not ‘modernising’ the qualification system at all. Neither do his proposals have anything to do with improving ‘international competitiveness’. On the contrary, Gove is continuing the Tory … Continue reading A reactionary, not a ‘moderniser’
A-level of expediency? (Soft and Hard, Vocational and Academic Part 2)
The huge media coverage of the GCSE grading scandal particularly in English, meant A-level results received less attention than usual this year. Like GCSE there were signs of things to come with a 0.4% decline in the percentage of A/A* awards; even if the total percentage grades A*-E continued to increase - by 0.2 per … Continue reading A-level of expediency? (Soft and Hard, Vocational and Academic Part 2)
More Blue Skies
Patrick Ainley reviews New thinking about the future of higher education reveals only paralysis in response to the New Order being imposed on higher education Forthcoming in next issue of ‘POST-16 EDUCATOR’ http://www.post16educator.org.uk/ Introduction Engels – or was it Lenin? – says somewhere that the presentation of many different views on the same subject quickly … Continue reading More Blue Skies
Wither GCSE?
Martin Allen Despite Ofqual’s well-crafted explanations, the real involvement of Michael Gove in the GCSE results scandal may never be known. It suits Gove to allow Ofqual to take the flack and it’s clear that he intends to use the dispute to push ahead with his programme of examination reform. Maybe Lib-Dem opposition will stop … Continue reading Wither GCSE?
Exam turmoil raises bigger question’s about young people’s futures
Martin Allen http://maeducationgp.wordpress.com/ If the fall in the number of top A-level grades was enough to start alarm bells ringing, it is the first ever dip in GCSE performance, particularly the down grading in English, which has been greeted with dismay by teachers. Exam boards have been the target for much of the anger, being … Continue reading Exam turmoil raises bigger question’s about young people’s futures
Making sense of unemployment statistics
As the Olympics fade, a fall in unemployment is good news for government ministers desperate to hang onto any feel good factor – yet it’s difficult to reconcile, or believe the validity of such a claim, when economic reality appears so different. In particular, these figures cover a three month period between April and June … Continue reading Making sense of unemployment statistics
Soundings Issue 51
Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley Why young people can't get the jobs they want http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/soundings/current.html Download original version of soundings article Download e-book -why young people....
