Tag Archives: Education

I have been asked to help decolonise the curriculum where I work. I take this to mean I must remove all subjects that benefitted from colonisers or colonialism, all writers who were involved in or benefited from the slave trade or indeed all books that nice people in 2021 should …

At last month’s Foundation for Education Development summit, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson revealed the government’s latest education agenda. While this roadmap to improve British schools and universities in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic envisaged germane proposals  to many issues, ranging from the £2.5-billion National Skills Fund to fund vocational …

Were the education system a fair reflection of society we would expect as many children  voting Conservative as voting Labour when they leave school or university. However, only 21% vote conservative. In the past this predilection for Labour amongst children was shrugged off as childish “idealism” but now it is …

The function of school history is to provide a general knowledge of the events that have shaped the nation.  The teaching of British history lost focus over the past 50 years because the majority of academics believed that the UK was going to merge with the EU and the government …

In Scotland school pupils and their parents put enough pressure on the SNP to reverse policy on exams marks. The precedent meant that it was already inevitable that the British Government felt the need to cave into such demands too.  Grades have been inflated for the past thirty years and …

A nation exists where economic geography and history has led the people who occupy an area of land to create an independent economy, culture, legal system and politics. If you wish to destroy a nation you cannot do so by simply invading it. The moment the troops are withdrawn it …

Parents in Scotland may differ with regard to politics, but they almost always share a desire that their children grow up healthy, do well in school get married and have children of their own. I wonder how many Scottish parents of a five-year-old boy want him to return from school …

The school history curriculum in the UK often skips the British Empire.  This leaves children with little knowledge of what actually happened and makes them prey to the fake history that is used by political movements to divide people, those who were born generations after the empires ended, into victims …

The Conservatives can take some steps now to win the 2024 election. The most important first step is to demand that BBC News and Current Affairs employs a fairly representative number of journalists from across the political spectrum in the UK.  Perhaps it is a result of operating the World …

The most shocking opinion poll that I read over the past year was by Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk in the Journal of Democracy 2016.  It shows that in 2011, only 30% of those aged between 20 and 30 years of age thought that democracy was essential. This is depressing …

It has been evident for some time that the EU Referendum could be overturned.  This is still not certain but possible. Things looked bleak from the very beginning because the government that was to negotiate Leaving had a Remain Prime Minister and a Remain Chancellor.  This was not surprising because …

The CANZUK nations dominate the international rankings for democracy, corruption and education and lead the way for a brighter and better future The CANZUK nations are well-known for their great vibrant economies and high living standards. However, the CANZUK nations are also highly regarded in other ways too. Our four …

Growing up in Northern Ireland at the beginning of this century, the binary system of grammar schools and secondary moderns was still in place. If you could pass the 11 Plus, then you had one chance to leave your social background and go to a fantastic school with aspiration and …

I must admit that I have been waiting for this one. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the social justice censors came for The Mikado, that beloved Gilbert & Sullivan operetta set in a highly fictionalized version of Japan, and here we are. (My other long-standing …

This week, Ian Pye published a fantastic piece on the importance of remembering and learning the lessons of history after watching the recent film The Darkest Hour. Many people agree with him, as it has been reported that in theatres across the country people are giving standing ovations to Churchill’s …

Oxbridge has every incentive to admit more students from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds. If diversity has failed to improve then it is our fault as individuals, families, communities and voters for failing to provide elite universities with a bigger, better talent pool Another day, another tedious story about Oxbridge being …

This year the Conservative Party Conference came to my hometown of Manchester, and a prominent theme that arose throughout the entire event, whether it was a fringe meeting on economics, a Government Minister’s speech or just indulging G&Ts with other Tory’s at the Midland Hotel bar, was the youth. I’m …

SCOTLAND not only has the highest public spending deficit in the European Union beating Greece to take top spot; but Scotland also has the worst deficit in the OECD. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group of 34 member countries that discuss and develop economic and …

https://youtu.be/KbTt8Xcia6I Ball pits, puppy dog videos and safe spaces – the seeds of Western civilisational decline are being sown on the university campus Heat Street reports on the slow-motion suicide of Western civilisation: During its “inclusive language” campaign, California State University-Northridge students lounged in a bouncy-ball pit and held forth …

Oliver writes in his personal capacity at https://norgroveblog.com I won’t return to this blog for at least another week as I am setting off on holiday to Zante early tomorrow morning, so I wanted to contribute before I go on a subject that I have addressed here fairly recently. A few …