Hey man it's COOOOOL!
Posted on 09/29/2005 7:30:22 AM PDT by ZGuy
The report that a hospital in West Yorkshire has banned visitors from cooing at new-born babies is, in fact, only the second dumbest thing the Brits have lately done.
They’ve also removed science from the school curriculum. New regulations just announced by the Blair government, and taking effect next year, will allow students to bypass the hard sciences in favor of courses deemed “relevant.” More precisely, students will be permitted to choose between traditional courses that teach the Periodic Table, ionic equations, the structure of the atom, Boyle’s law, and Ohm’s law – and newly-designed courses that will teach about the drugs debate, slimming issues, smoking and health, in vitro fertilization, and “the nuclear controversy”. According to The Times of London, the new regulations were adopted after Tony Blair’s ministers received a report from academics at King’s College, London, which concluded that “science lessons were often dull and boring, and required pupils to recall too many facts.”
Not surprisingly, the new courses – officially called TwentyFirst Century Science – are a hit with students. At North Chadderton upper school – one of 80 at which the new program has already been pilot-tested -- students who previously had been forced to learn physics and chemistry were, instead, taught what foods to eat. According to North Chadderton’s head of science, Martyn Overy,
“The proportion getting higher grades in science went up from 60 percent to 75 percent. The course kept their interest, had more project work, and was more relevant.”
It’s hard to imagine anything a government could do that would be more likely than this to condemn its people to technological and economic backwardness. That it would happen in Great Britain – which has given humanity so many of its very greatest scientific minds, including Issac Newton and Francis Bacon – is beyond belief. Well, almost beyond belief.
Those poor, un-cooed-at babies in West Yorkshire have no idea what’s in store for them.
'Stuck on Stupid'
Well so long as the kids are happy and interested, I suppose it doesn't really matter whether or not they actually learn anything in school...
"George Orwell...George Orwell...Please pick up the white courtesy phone."
Won't be long until we follow suit.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Actually, it might be for the best. The students who are genuinely interested in chemistry or physics, and prepared to do the math, will have the science lectures and labs to themselves, while the deadwood are off becoming "relevant." ("Slimming issues"? Gark!)
The rulers and the ruled ...
(Science education ping, RA :-).
I lived in and out of england and continue to do busines there. It is a good place to visit. But I have learned a lot and since 1985 when I have been asked my thoughts about it I have always replied the same way.
England is 200 years of history unhampered by progress.
Meanwhile, France turned out
Leibniz and Descartes. Who needs
Newton and Bacon?!
My brother has lived in England for the last 5 years ... but he doesn't have any children!
It's very scenic, but it sure seems like they're getting weird.
regulation are addressing = regulation IS addressing. editing error.
And Pasteur.
The idea of offering alternative courses won't solve this problem, IMO. Abolish all schooling is the only solution.
There is no way that they can teach "the nuclear controversy" without teaching the hard sciences. If you can't understand nuclear fission, beta and alpha decay, the basic engineering principles behind nuclear reactors, the safety considerations (which are very technical), and the effects of radiation on biological material there is no way to have any comprehension over whether nuclear reactors are good or bad. It has long been my view that the "nuclear controversy" arose because people were not given decent science educations and did not understand the science and engineering principles behind reactors. This will hardly help. Just more indoctrination to help keep the "nuclear controversy" running.
Next time you're over there, can you pick up some BSA parts for me ?
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig in 1646 and died in Hannover in 1716. I don't know if he ever spent time in France, but he was German.
Math (or "maths" as they call it) is often dull and boring...that should be dropped too, since calculators are so cheap nowadays.
Amazing. Another reason to privatize schools. You know we are only 20 years or so behind Britain's mistakes.
Yikes! You're right, of course!
Oh, man. I'm feeling very
British this morning . . .
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