Children in Need - MR Colin Andrew Lever

Children in Need: Education, Wellbeing and the pursuit of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). In schools all around the country the wellbeing of our children is being tested as never before. Children are placed under enormous pressure to 'perform' in national examinations just so that schools can raise their standing in national league tables and are only viewed by the government as a commodity in order to raise the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Blunt attempts to increase academic rigour have resulted in more children failing. Our education system used to be the best in the world. However, the latest statistics show that forty percent of children are failing. One in six teachers are identified as struggling and as many as four hundred thousand pupils misbehave regularly whilst in school. Children who do not conform are expelled, even those with special educational needs. The school curriculum has changed little in a hundred years and the examination system is not fit for purpose, unable to stretch the brightest or provide value for the less able. Pushy parents farm their children off to childcare and then leave them glued to a computer screen while they take a well earned rest. Our children are suffering, but who cares? We are crying out for an education system that works for all children, one that puts the wellbeing of each child first. We are still waiting.