Mind your grammar!

I see in the news this week that this tarnished Labour government's "education guru" - Lord Adonis - has finally admitted he was wrong to abolish grammar schools. Since Tony Blair came to power in 1997 banging his podium to the beat of his mantra "Education, Education, Education" standards have continued to fall despite the spin put on school results by the government's propaganda machine. Young people spill out into the job market unable to read, spell or count properly and universities, as well as being virtually unable to distinguish good candidates from bad since an increasing majority have achieved "A" grades at A-Level, have to spend an ever greater proportion of the intake year bringing students' basic English and Maths up to an acceptable standard.

Luckily (and although some planning went into it, it is more luck than judgement) my two daughters have enjoyed a relatively high standard of education. One of the reasons I originally chose to live where I did back in 1988 was the proximity to the local junior and infants' school which was, and remains, an extremely successful school. The high school in the area is above average, and the A Level college my elder daughter currently attends is one of the best in the country (including private colleges).

I too led an almost charmed existence at school - starting off at Edwalton County Primary - which I'm pleased to see is still in fine fettle 40+ years after I left - and progressing through the local state schools and University with little trouble, apart from that of my own making. So I guess some would think I'm not best placed to comment on poor education: I didn't suffer it, and neither have my kids. But God! Those intervening years have been hard on so many, as one "guru" after another experimented with various teaching fads (Initial Teaching Alphabet to name but one), targets and statistics, curriculum changes and wholesale devastation of exam syllabuses. And who were the losers? Well teachers for one, as they struggled to cope with mounting workloads, crumbling schools, lack of basic tools and poor salaries. But of course the main losers were the kids.

True, some schools shine out like beacons in the void - ECP above being one of them - but all too many are struggling and failing to give our kids a fair chance of a good start in life, while all the time this vacuous government tries to convince us that things are getting better.

What does this have to do with the abolition of grammar schools? Well for generations, they were the passport out of poverty for thousands of working-class children. Many in today's upper echelons of industry and government started their climb to fame and fortune in a grammar school, and yet now they're busy denying the same chance to today's children. Deprived of the opportunity to push themselves to excel, surrounded by mediocrity and sullen resignation, they turn their back not only on academia, but on any pursuit of the mind including plain ordinary reading, content instead to while away their time on video games and mindless television pap such as Big Brother and Love Island.

This sorry state of affairs has gone on so long we now even have teachers who can't spell properly. How are they supposed to teach English? Simple - they decide spelling "isn't important" and stop correcting poor examples, with the result that the next generation's spelling is even worse. And don't even get me started on apostrophe usage.

Lord Adonis might well have the courage to admit he was wrong to get rid of grammar schools, but unless he or someone like him takes the next logical step and brings them back, education in this country will continue its downward slide save for a few islands of excellence.