ONE CHILD IN FIVE LEAVING SCHOOL IS UNABLE TO READ
This article by LAURA CLARK, Education Correspondent to the Daily Mail, appeared in that newspaper on 8 May 2010.
One in five teenagers leaves school illiterate and innumerate despite two decades of education reform, research shows. More than 100,000 lack the basic skills needed to function in society.
A study found there has been little or no change in
the last 20 years in the proportion of youngsters
rendered unemployable because they have such a poor
grasp of words and numbers. About 17 per
cent of 16 to 19-year-olds are functionally
illiterate, according to the study led by
Professor Greg Brooks from the University of
Sheffield. 'People at this level can
handle only simple tests and straightforward
questions on them where no distracting information
is adjacent or nearby,' the study said.
'Making inferences and understanding forms of
indirect meaning, e.g. allusion and irony, are
likely to be difficult or impossible.
'This is less than the functional literacy
needed to partake fully in employment, family life
and citizenship and to enjoy reading for its own
sake.'
Some 22 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds are
essentially innumerate, according to the study.
This means they have 'very basic competence in
maths, mainly limited to arithmetical computations
and some ability to comprehend and use other forms
of mathematical information'.
The study adds: 'While this is valuable, it is
clearly not enough to deal confidently with many of
the mathematical challenges of contemporary
life.' Levels of functional innumeracy
are even higher among older age groups, the
research claims.
The Tories claim Labour has been too slow to
embrace the 'synthetic phonics' method of
teaching children to read, which has been credited
with virtually wiping out illiteracy where it has
been used. The technique, which involves
teaching children the sounds that make up words,
was made mandatory only four years ago.
The failure to get to grips with the basics early
on is thought to increase pupils' disaffection
with school, leading to them becoming alienated and
dropping out.
Teachers said a 'long tail of
underachievement' had long been a feature of
English education.
John Bangs, head of education at the National Union
of Teachers, said the Government should offer
one-to-one tuition for pupils, support for parents
and more training for teachers. But he added:
'There are no magic solutions.'
The study, which analysed decades of evidence,
found that the average reading scores for 13 to
19-year-olds improved between 1948 and 1960 but
remained 'remarkably constant' between 1960
and 1988. They rose 'gently' until
2004 before a further plateau. Writing
performance has been relatively static since
1979.
The study was published by the Times Educational
Supplement as it emerged that one in three primary
schools are failing to meet a Labour performance
benchmark and facing greater scrutiny from local
authorities and Government.
About 6,000 primaries are deemed to be
under-achieving or 'coasting' because they
are failing to improve results fast enough.
Labour has spent billions on a string of
initiatives aimed at raising standards of basic
skills. This has included giving teachers
extra training in grammar and maths and making them
follow prescribed lesson plans.
A 'functional skills' exam for 16-year-olds
was devised to tackle employers' concerns, but
plans to make passing this a pre-condition of good
GCSE results were dropped.
Labour embraced the Conservatives' primary
school literacy hour in 1997 and introduced a
similar initiative for maths, before extending the
drive to secondary schools.
But it dropped the prescribed daily literacy and
numeracy hours following numerous updates to the
programmes and evidence that test results were
stalling.