First published in The Sunday Times, 10 January 2021:
One of the biggest challenges we face as a nation is the creation of an education and training system that nurtures talent and creates a ladder of opportunity for everyone. However, far too often, discussion about education reform is characterised by two polar opposites - knowledge and skills. This is a false divide. Knowledge is only relevant when accompanied by the skills to interpret and communicate it, and skills are only useful when there is core knowledge to draw on. Both are essential if we are to develop self-effective young people who can apply their learning in their work.
The truth is that our education system is not fit for the 21st century.
Social mobility continues to decline, despite the billions that have been invested in schooling. A recent poll by the Social Mobility Commission found that only 30% of 18 to 24-year-olds felt everyone in Britain today has a fair chance to progress.
Before the pandemic, our nation faced significant skills gaps. Nine million working-age adults in England have low literacy or numeracy skills, and six million adults are not qualified to level 2 (equivalent to GCSE level). Participation in adult education is at its lowest level in 23 years and 49% of adults from the lowest socioeconomic group have received no training since leaving school. It is estimated that by 2024, there will be a shortfall of four million highly skilled workers.
Now, COVID-19 has reaped further damage and exposed the fact that we have a school system which is completely unfit for purpose. During the first national lockdown, approximately 2.3 million children did no school work at home, or less than one hour a day.
The school system is hopelessly out of date and fails to convince employers, universities, and an increasing number of parents. Some local authorities reported that the number of families choosing to home educate their children increased by more than 200% this Autumn.
Much of the educational technology in schools has been out of date for ten or more years and worse still, teachers are not incentivised to integrate technology into their practice. In fact, the UK is 31% behind the OECD average in this respect.
Britain performed poorly in the latest PISA rankings. As explained by Andreas Schleicher (Director of Education, OECD), we need to recognise that the world is changing: “The kind of things that are easy to teach, easy to test are now all too easy to digitise, to automate.... If Britain wants to do better on PISA it should probably teach fewer things at greater depth, focus more on conceptual understanding.”
Urgent change is essential.
This starts with the scrapping of GCSEs. In their place, a holistic and far broader based baccalaureate, complemented by technology and incorporating academic and vocational education at age 18.
Second, the factory model - where each pupil advances at the same pace in every subject, regardless of aptitude, ability and interest - must be swept away forever. Instead, we should enable personalised education through the use of new technologies that work to complement teachers’ expertise.
Third, we need a radical redesign and reengineering of the classroom. The effective use of technology, including AI, can provide seamless learning between school and home, as well as in between, where each learner is supported to fulfil their potential through targeted feedback and support.
Clearly, the fourth industrial revolution, the growing use of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation will have a profound impact on our country. So, fourth, the Government should establish a Special Royal Commission into Education and Exam Reform that would report within 9 months and include the finest experts in AI, data and learning analysts, economics and education. Nothing is more essential than striving to understand and prepare the nation for the impending changes in our economy and society.
Written by Robert Halfon MP, David Davis MP, Sir Anthony Seldon (educationalist, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Buckingham), Priya Lakhani (Founder, CENTURY Tech), Rose Luckin (Professor of Learner Centred Design, UCL Knowledge Lab).
