Students ‘lack the basic skills’

TEENAGERS are turning up at Highlands College without the basic reading and maths skills they should have learned at secondary school, claims Economic Development Minister Philip Ozouf.
He says that the college is having to spend time and money teaching students basic English and numeracy skills which they should have picked up by the time they get there.
The Senator made his comments during a hearing by the Economic Scrutiny panel, saying that his Council of Ministers colleague Education Minister Mike Vibert would have to face tough questions about why secondary schools were failing to equip some pupils with basic skills in reading and maths.
The panel, led by Deputy Geoff Southern, is reviewing youth employment and training opportunities in the Island. Towards the end of Monday’s hearing Senator Ozouf, who chairs the Skills Executive reviewing and reshaping education and training provision in Jersey, told the panel: ‘Highlands College is at the very heart of what we are trying to achieve. But it is not a secondary school, and there are some questions about the amount of money they are spending on giving a number of 16- to 18-year-olds basic numeracy and literacy skills. (from thisisjersey)

Why? what is causing the education system to fail.....

blame the parents and education system.

Parents? As a parent i send my children to our trusted education establishments. Dont start blaming me! Unless i'm grossly misinformed, while the children are in school, the headmaster and staff are in 'loco parentis' ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_loco_parentis ) which mean they assume the role of parent and tutor. I will help my children with their extra curricular activities (homework) as im presented with.

Wanna blame anyone? start from the top! States Education, The Teachers, States Policies etc...... Parents believe it or not are at the end of the education chain.

No Offence Mr B, but with outlandish comments like what you just posted, your going to get some pretty heated responses.

i agree but to be fair your post 'Blame parents and the education' was pretty open ended no? i may act an idiot sometimes (an online persona?) but believe me, i'm nobodies fool!

the problem today is lack of discipline in schools .if a child doesn't want to learn that is their choice.in my day you would have been punished for not doing homework etc.there was no such thing as misbehaving in class,you paid attention or paid the price.you also have the problem of some not all parents not caring whether children learn the basics.my parents made us do homework and study.kids these days have it too easy sad to say they have the upper hand on parents and teachers.

you are no one's fool Barney and my post was an open ended post.

you are so right Thistle the key here is discipline........or lack of it.....

Look i'm a teenager in guernsey.
and i think its the Education.
the systems we have in place is rubbish i dunno what its like in jersey but i think its the Education Departments Problem not the parents :)

i learnd to read and wite and tell the time b4 i even went to school,its up to the parents to pre educate the child and the stae to lead them into the crappy thesis they have,teach the basics and have other tuturials there,also bring back Disapline,teaher says jump,pupil says how high,not teacher says jump.pupil sasy ef off.(spillin mistakes made wid a puter)

I am sorry, but the education system has some blame, but most is down to the parents, they should be the ones to ensure that thier children are learning and not playing on the pc etc

Pegasus wrote:they should be the ones to ensure that thier children are learning and not playing on the pc etc

And how do you suppose i do that? While they are at school, do i give up work and stand there at the classroom door making sure he's taking everything in? I make sure my nipper does his homework before he goes out or has sky/playstation etc.. As for him learning at school, thats out of my hands. What he does at school is up to him.

You can take a horse to water, but can't make him drink.

Ever heard that one? Again, stop laying most of the blame at parents doors.

Education is a good thing, but there are kids that can't even do the basic's and I am sorry but it is down to the parent's who do not spare the time to look over thier home/school work

Parents should not just say "Have you done your homework" they should actually look at the work that thier child has done, to make them feel happy that the child has done thier best.

And if the work is poor then questions need to be asked is the school doing enough for thier child!

I have seen kids leave school without the basic skills they should have learnt in Junior School, let alone Secondary.

Kids should have to take extra English and Maths until they are up to standard sod history and geography until they have mastered the basics

A few interesting points have been raised here.

Firstly as Barney says you can't always look over their shoulder and the responsibility for their schooling does lie flatly with the school. If they are falling behind then it is down to the school to raise this with the parents so remedial steps can be taken to at least get them back up to the required standard - whether it be special tuition or whatever.

However I do agree with Pegasus that parents should assist the school and their kids by being involved with their homework across a wide range of subjects. I do this with both my kids whether it me maths, english, spellings or anything - but I won't do it for them - I let them do their best first and then highlight what's wrong and let them work it out for themselves - if they don't understand what they are doing wrong - then i'll teach them again until they do.

However, this would not be possible if the parent themselves struggle through previous education, so it can't be expected.

The schools do still report on a childs progress regularly so I see no reason why kids are struggling to keep up to the basic level if both parties are trying to help.

Barney Gumble wrote:...Parents believe it or not are at the end of the education chain...

I'd disagree, parents are most definitely at the end of the education chain.

Who does the child first learn from if not his parents? I was amazed at how many children turned up to their first day of school unable to recognise or form their letters and numbers. To be honest I felt annoyed that these basics had been ignored by their parents, perhaps because it's not their job they feel, and how that impacted on my child who ended up in the top end of the class while my taxes were being spent predominantly on bringing the lower end up to speed.

If this attitude of palming off academic education to the school continues through primary and secondary education it's no wonder the child isn't learning.

Troy McClure wrote:

Barney Gumble wrote:...Parents believe it or not are at the end of the education chain...

I'd disagree, parents are most definitely at the end of the education chain.

Who does the child first learn from if not his parents? I was amazed at how many children turned up to their first day of school unable to recognise or form their letters and numbers. To be honest I felt annoyed that these basics had been ignored by their parents, perhaps because it's not their job they feel, and how that impacted on my child who ended up in the top end of the class while my taxes were being spent predominantly on bringing the lower end up to speed.

If this attitude of palming off academic education to the school continues through primary and secondary education it's no wonder the child isn't learning.

Totally agree the parents are the start,middle & end of the education it is thier duty to ensure that thier children get the best education
and if the children fail in education, the parents are totally responsible