[Dustbunny]

'Stuck on Stupid'

[NJ_gent]

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...

[Eepsy]

"George Orwell...George Orwell...Please pick up the white courtesy phone."

[brownsfan]

Won't be long until we follow suit.

[Tax-chick]

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 :-).

[theFIRMbss]

>Great Britain – which has given humanity so many of its very greatest scientific minds, including Issac Newton and Francis Bacon

Meanwhile, France turned out
Leibniz and Descartes. Who needs
Newton and Bacon?!

[GSlob]

"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, that same Francis Bacon wrote: “Concerning the advancement of learning, I do subscribe to the opinion… that, for grammar schools, there are already too many… the great number of schools which are in your Highness’s realm doth cause a want, and likewise an overthrow [surfeit] – both of them inconvenient and one of them dangerous; for by means thereof they find want in the country and towns, both of servants for husbandry and of apprentices for trade; and on the other side there being more Scholars bred than the State can prefer and employ… it must needs fall out that many persons will be bred unfit for other vocations and unprofitable for that in which they were bred up, which will fill the realm full of indigent, idle and wanton people…”
Francis Bacon, 1611 letter to James I.
So, the new regulation are addressing the growing shortage "of servants for husbandry and of apprentices for trade". As such, it is the most wise measure and is to be supported and applauded.

[SittinYonder]

“science lessons were often dull and boring, and required pupils to recall too many facts.”

The idea of offering alternative courses won't solve this problem, IMO. Abolish all schooling is the only solution.

[Old Seadog]

Hey man it's COOOOOL!

[burzum]

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”.

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.

[Verginius Rufus]

Math (or "maths" as they call it) is often dull and boring...that should be dropped too, since calculators are so cheap nowadays.

[mysterio]

Amazing. Another reason to privatize schools. You know we are only 20 years or so behind Britain's mistakes.

[Captain Rhino]

No one can remember when or how the decision was made to divide humanity into the Eloi and the Morlocs.

Now we know.

[doc30]

I guess they won't be producing many scientists, engineers or medical workers in a few years. Britain is sliding to third world status pretty fast. Then again, coupled with the growing muslim population, did anyone not see this coming?

[doc30]

THis might interest you. Seems like all of Britain has decided learning science is too hard and boring. Maybe the IDer's will look to this for inspiration. It would fit with their agenda.

[JasonSC]

They’ve also removed science from the school curriculum.

Well sure, why not? Earth, Wind, and Fire; that's all we need to know! Praise Odin

[AMERIKA]

LOL!

This explains it...

The British were asked about Blogging and they confused it with Dogging...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3119024.stm

[DarkSavant]

“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.”

Amazing how easy math and science is when you get rid of all the math and science.

[Junior]

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.

Well, they could mandate teaching "Intelligent Design..."

[RightWhale]

They’ve also removed science from the school curriculum.

Physics has been disappearing from classrooms for several years. Lack of interest. It's unfortunate that such a fertile ground of metaphor is being denied the poets of the next generation. But, perhaps it is appropriate that evolution instead of laws should provide figures for the next stages of societal transformation.