Learning: Only Ever To Be Undertaken By Qualified ProfessionalsTM

Young people are being left "globally illiterate" as school fails to prepare them for the wider world, according to a new study.
Half of children believe people of different backgrounds and cultures should not live in the same country, it is claimed.

And a fifth of teenagers have never discussed worldwide news stories or problems, such as the crisis in Zimbabwe or the Beijing Olympics, at school.

Oh, horrors! What shall we do? The end of civilisation is surely upon us, unless our elite imparts this information to our children….

Hetan Shah, DEA chief executive, said: "In secondary schools there seems to be an overwhelming focus on getting pupils through the tests. Teachers are finding it more and more difficult to bring in some of these wider issues.

"I've heard of incidences of children going into schools and saying 'What's going on in Zimbabwe', and the teacher saying they don't have time to get into those issues."

Now, he has a point about teaching to targets, but the rest of it is the usual babble you’d expect from a hired mouthpiece for another money- and publicity-hungry charity. God forbid the children so curious about Zimbabwe access this information from anyone but the Government!

Kids: You probably have PCs and Internet access – if you are curious about Zimbabwe or world affairs, leave off Facebook and downloading the latest MP3s and try Google. I’m reliably informed that even modern gaming systems can access the net, where all kinds of information from the MSM and blogs is available; it’s not just so you can access information about how to progress in ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’.

There are still free libraries in most areas (though the government is working on that!) and they do sometimes have internet access if the thought of cracking open a book or a newspaper sends you into spasm.

You could always ask your parents, too…

But now we come to the real meat of this little study:

Mr Shah called on the Government to make world issues a central part of education, saying employers were no longer interested in individuals with a "little England" mentality.

"The Government wants young people to have a 'world class' education but a key question is whether it is preparing them for the world," he said.

"Ahead of the G8 meeting to discuss world issues, we need to face reality. An education system that leaves English children globally illiterate, without a basic understanding of world events or problems and intolerant towards those from different backgrounds is one that sets children up to fail."

It’s all about getting a compliant workforce that has been spoonfed government propaganda since before they could toddle. No free thinkers need apply.