Tuition at home is better than at school.
From the Evening News of Monday, 14 August 2000
Page 15:- "Home rule ahead of the classroom".
"Politicians of all complexions think they can get our votes by promising to spend more and more money on schools. One hopes, therefore, that plenty of publicity will be given to the latest research carried out at the University of Durham, comparing the performance of the 1500,000 or so home-educated children with those sent to school.
65% of home-educated children scored 75% in a maths test. The average for school-educated children is 45%. Home educated working-class children did much better that school-educated middle class. Home-educated girls, freed from the pressure of competing with boys in classroom and playground, did as well as their brothers in all areas.
In other words, school is proven to hold you back in your intellectual and personal advancement. Don't say it too loudly, though, in the world where Cherie Booth is the role model of all those women too selfish to look after their own children, and who put their careers first. Parents say they want good schools for their children as a way of appeasing their guilt. What they mean is, they can't wait for their children to be old enough to have free child-minders -- the so-called teachers. We all know that in an average school there will be one decent teacher to 15 duds."
Comments by the Editor.
When I first read this article, I thought how well it reinforces my belief that education by means other than schools must be better. The whole purpose of this web site is to create a means by which anybody, anywhere and at any time can gain an education in Technology. Even physical skill training must be possible through the use of video clips and interactive video cam. We all know that you learn best by doing. The Web is a "doing" medium if used properly. It is obviously not the sole answer, as we would all end up as zombies not knowing how to communicate to anybody etc. As the BT advert says "It's good to talk".
The last paragraph of the article was rambling point scoring rubbish, but in a way, it does sums up the general public attitude towards teachers. Dud child-minders. I think this is partly our own fault as we have never "setout our stall" and "sold ourselves" to the press and the public. Technology Teachers have a lot to offer this country but we are continually being "shafted". The article was wrong in calling us child-minders, we are more like the Sheriffs in the Wild West trying to control the MAD and the BAD. Therefore it is not surprising that more teachers are leaving than are joining. The majority of those remaining, want out.