GCSE pupils must do traditional subjects, says MP

Ebacc courses should be made compulsory, Tory politician argues on eve of GCSE results day Pupils should be required to sit GCSEs in five traditional academic subjects so that Britain can remain a competitive nation, a Conservative MP says. On the eve of the publication of GCSE results for 600,000 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Elizabeth Truss has said all 16-year-olds – regardless of their ability – should take English, maths, at least two sciences, a foreign language and either history or geography. Michael Gove, the education secretary, has called this combination of subjects the English Baccalaureate , or Ebacc. For the first time this year, league tables measured schools by the proportion of their pupils achieving at least a C grade in Ebacc subjects. Truss, MP for south-west Norfolk, has warned that leading competitors such as Germany, France, Canada and Japan, have already made Ebacc subjects compulsory at 16 and that Britain is “quickly falling behind”. In the US, all these subjects are mandatory, apart from a foreign language. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, at present just English, maths and science are compulsory to GCSE. Truss, who is known for engaging in education debates in the Commons, says pupils get more out of each academic discipline by studying a combination of them. She says Ebacc subjects should become compulsory when ministers introduce a new national curriculum into schools in September 2013. There is already proof that the UK is losing its reputation for educational excellence, Truss says. Last year, the UK slipped down international league tables for reading, science and maths. Every four years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development analyses the numeracy and literacy standards and scientific knowledge of 470,000 15-year-olds across the world. The latest study, published in December, showed the UK tumbled from 17th to 25th place in reading; from 24th to 28th position in maths and from 14th to 16th place in science. Figures published earlier this week following a parliamentary question by Charlotte Leslie, Conservative MP for Bristol north-west , show fewer than a quarter of pupils – 22% – sat GCSEs in Ebacc subjects last summer, compared to half in 1997. Anecdotal evidence indicates that, since the introduction of the Ebacc, more schools are encouraging pupils to take traditional, academic subjects. Pupils receiving their GCSE results on Thursday will have chosen their subjects two years ago, before the Ebacc was invented. However, some schools may have suggested pupils switch to traditional subjects half-way through their courses. The GCSE pass rate is expected to reach a record high of 70%, a leading education expert has predicted. Last summer, some 69.1% of entries achieved a C grade or higher. Professor Alan Smithers , of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, anticipates that nearly one in four – 23% – of GCSE entries will be an A or A* and that one in 12 will be an A*. In 2010, 22.6% of exams got an A or A*, while 7.5% were awarded an A*. Ministers have said schools will be considered under-performing if fewer than 35% of pupils achieve at least five C grades, including in English and maths. The government intends to change GCSEs from next year so that pupils do not take exams throughout the year, but only at the end of their courses. GCSEs English baccalaureate Schools Secondary schools Education policy Conservatives Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.