The Three R's

Recently my attention was drawn to an article in a national newspaper, well if you must know it was The Daily Telegraph, about standards within the education system. The general thrust of the item as I understand it is that the author [Charles Moore] takes as his view that for all the time and money put in the education system is fundamentally flawed and as a sub text he adds, children have never worked so hard and learnt so little.

After a short but I think meandering introduction, to include the obligatory dig at the Labour Party and therefore by default the Government, Mr Moore reaches what I think is the nub of the piece where he poses the question, does the average pupil today end up knowing more or knowing things more deeply than say his or her counterpart of fifty years ago. Could the average pupil of today do long division or speak a foreign language or explain the Great Reform Bill or locate Puthukkudiyiruppu on a map of the world or operate the laws of thermo-dynamics better than his or her equivalent of half a century ago. Perhaps not, modern educationalists and defenders of the present system might argue, but modern pupils know more about saving the planet, safe sex, challenging racism and things not even thought of in the 1950's and 60's such as the Internet, they learn more that is relevant is the defence.

Now that got me thinking, for I was a pupil during the 50's and 60's. In particular it made me think about the 11 plus examination taken by all children during those days and contrary to the title taken when the children were around ten and a half years old.

By way of explanation to my overseas readers [and I am ever hopeful a follower of the Blog from Chad] I should explain that there was a system in place within the British education system up until the early 70's, though parts of the country did vary, that had a formal educational examination called the 11 plus taken by children at primary school, the results of which would determine, depending upon the result, their further education by selection to the type of school the child should attend after primary school. The choices being either a Grammar School a Technical School or a Secondary Modern School, the understanding of the day being that different skills required different schooling.

I took the 11 plus exam in 1959 when I was a little over ten years old and as I have mentioned elsewhere on the Blog I failed as I remember did many of my friends. The end result being that at the start of the autumn term of that year I and many of the other failures all now aged eleven arrived at the gates of the local secondary modern school, this decision being based on that having failed we were not destined for a grammar school education but having failed so spectacularly we were not deemed bright enough even to gain a place at the local technical school. We were in the lower half of the failure group and our lot for the next four years was to be at the secondary modern school until leaving at the age of 15 and being forced then to make our way in the world at large.

Now I would not like you to think that my perhaps disparaging comment about secondary modern schools meant they were bad, perhaps sadly some were but happily the one I attended, which I have since found out has been demolished many years ago and its grounds now taken up by what is called executive housing, was a good and happy place for me at least. My school offered all the traditional academic subjects; Maths, English, History, Geography and Science as well as some very helpful practical based subjects, Woodwork, Metalwork, Technical Drawing and Gardening. It would be untrue though even 45 years after leaving for me to say that my four year stay within its portals improved my standard of education greatly but it was a happy school and on the whole I enjoyed my time there.

However my somewhat faded memory of the 11 plus exam intrigues me and the question posed by Mr Moore about a comparison with the pupils of today and their counterparts of the 50's and 60's. I have with the aid of the Internet discovered that the 11 plus exam was split into five subject sections each having ten questions so making the exam fifty questions in total. The subjects being; Arithmetic, General English, Comprehension, General Intelligence / Knowledge and Essays and Compositions. It should be remembered that the 11 plus was not some form of multi choice exam it asked questions or set problems to which the child would have to work out an answer or write an answer. We are perhaps familiar with sights of examination centres today we might see on a news item for example and we see pupils sat at their desk armed with calculators and dictionaries. Pupils of the 11 plus had neither of these items all they had was an answer booklet, pencil, rubber, pen and a bottle of ink.

So let me set the scene; you are a ten year old child you are sat in the school assembly hall now turned over for the morning as an examination centre. On the desk in front of you is a blank booklet for you to write your answers in, the 11 plus question paper, a pencil, a rubber a ruler and a fountain pen and bottle of ink. Have a go at these five genuine examples.

Question 1.
A train leaves London at 11.30 am and arrives at Bristol at 1.30 pm, after stopping from 12.10 pm till 12.20 pm at Reading which is 36 miles from London. It traveled both parts of the journey at the same rate. Find the distance from London to Bristol.

Question 2.
Subtract two thirds of eight hundred and thirty four from 23 times 185.

Question 3.
A machine makes tin boxes at the rate of 78 in 5 minutes. How long will it take to make 3,900 or them. Answer in hours and minutes.

Question 4.
Seven piles of bricks are placed side by side so that their tops form steps 1 brick high. If the lowest pile contains 9 bricks, how many bricks are being used altogether.

Question 5.
A contractor agrees to complete a house in 250 days and to do this he engages 60 men. After 200 hundred days no work is done for 10 days. How many extra men must the contractor engage to finish the house in time.

So I am drawn back to the question from Mr Moore and I think in all fairness that I might have to say I am undecided on the answer. I am sure that there will be some of today's ten year old who would be able to pass an 11 plus of that type and standard just as there would be those who would fail. On balance however I think that proportionally there would be a much higher percentage of today's pupils would fail it than those ten year old back in the 50's and 60's if only for the reason that I believe the pupils of today rely more on technical and electronic assistance from computers and calculators and so on.

So no doubt they can still do long division but I for example still do it manually with pen and paper, pupils today would press a few buttons on their calculator. I know where Putukkudiyiruppu is having learnt it during a geography lesson at that now defunct secondary modern school, pupils today would search Google.

I do not agree with Mr Moore when he says that children [today] have never worked so hard and learnt so little. All they have to do is remember which buttons to press and how to switch on a computer and educationally speaking the world is at their finger tips, that is not hard work and they can learn so much should they wish.

..................................and in case dear reader you were wondering Puthukkudiyiruppu is on the North East coast of Sri Lanka and as for the answers to the five questions above, don't ask me I failed the 11 plus remember...........................................