Education, Education, Education

[Al R Gando]

I'd be interested to know if anyone who lives on this planet believes that we have "invaded" Libya?

I'd be interested to know if anyone who lives in Britain believes that taxes raised for the express purpose of providing infrastructure services for British people in Britain should be diverted to fund military escapades in countries where Britain has no national interest - to the detriment of British schoolchildren and students studying in British schools.

Perhaps you'd like to try to stick to the point, Mr Simon? It's spelt out three times in the title. "Education, Education, Education". Would that be clear enough for you???????????

[ahinton]

I'd be interested to know if anyone who lives on this planet believes that we have "invaded" Libya?

I live on this planet (well, in Hereforshire, which is maybe not quite the same thing, but...) and, whilst I do not believe that Britain has "invaded" Libya per se, the point remains well made that it has nevertheless spent not inconsiderable sums of its already very long-suffering taxpayers' money on sending armed forces personnel there in recent times.

[Simon]

Perhaps you'd like to try to stick to the point, Mr Simon? It's spelt out three times in the title. "Education, Education, Education". Would that be clear enough for you???????????

Oh, very clear, thanks. After all, it was you, not me, who first mentioned Libya. And how we've "invaded" it. With a whole platoon of special advisors.

So you've shot yourself in the foot with that one, haven't you?

[Al R Gando]

Wrong, Mr Simon. Another of your strawman arguments. Tell us how you justify stealing money from the education budget to wage war on Libya, why don't you?? Who is paying those "special advisors"? The British taxpayer is the answer. Money that was paid in for schools has been stolen by you and your kind for warmongering. And you're proud of doing so. Why don't schools have access to supply teachers? Answer a straight question for once in your life?

[ahinton]

Wrong, Mr Simon. Another of your strawman arguments. Tell us how you justify stealing money from the education budget to wage war on Libya, why don't you?? Who is paying those "special advisors"? The British taxpayer is the answer. Money that was paid in for schools has been stolen by you and your kind for warmongering. And you're proud of doing so. Why don't schools have access to supply teachers? Answer a straight question for once in your life?

That's abit unfair. Simon may possess sufficient straw to keep a large heard of bovines in confort for a whole winter, but he has not stolen any money from the education budget or indeed any other government budget and, had he done so, I'd like his advice on how to do it! Also, I have no evidence that the British government has taken money specifically from its education budget as disinct from any of its other budgets for the specific purpose of financing its recent and current armed forces involvement in Libya and, as I already mentioned, British armed forces have not in any case actually "invaded" Libya in the sense of the country having first officially declared war on it (as it did, for example, on Germany in 1939), even though those personnel were admittedly not invited there by the Libyan government. That said, the British government has allocated substantial funds in order to send its armed forces personnel to Libya on active service and, self-evidently, that money has to come from somewhere and could indeed have been better spent elsewhere; whether or not Simon is "proud" of that is not for me to speculate. I don't suppose that the paucity of supply teachers in Britain results from their having been conscripted to serve in Libya, either (not that you're suggesting this as the reason for it, of course).

[Al R Gando]

I have no evidence that the British government has taken money specifically from its education budget as disinct from any of its other budgets for the specific purpose of financing its recent and current armed forces involvement in Libya.

Not unfair whatsoever. If Mr Simon wants to leap to the defence of the actions in Libya, he must expect to have to answer for what he defends.

The British Govt is mandated to collect taxes to fulfil its obligations to the British taxpayers with respect to basic services - education, health, law and order, the prison service etc. It has no mandate whatsoever to spend monies collected for these purposes on American warmaking in which no British interest is involved. If there are shortfalls in the education service when money has been spent overseas on warmongering, then the money intended for schools has been STOLEN. There is no other word for it. STOLEN.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm not a Host for this board, so I cannot intervene. But we can disagree without hurling personal insults. Surely?

[Al R Gando]

I'm not a Host for this board, so I cannot intervene. But we can disagree without hurling personal insults. Surely?

It's a discussion from which I have withdrawn already, thanks.

[french frank]

Are there other philoosophical reasons for the opposition?

There are not philosophical reasons but practical ones. In Bristol there are (still) a lot of independent schools, a fact which has been blamed for the very poor standard of achievement of the Bristol state schools. Education-conscious middle-class parents put their children through independent schools and assisted-places helped bright kids to get into the schools for which their parents couldn't afford fees. This creamed off all the brightest children from the state system.

Similarly, academies already, and free schools in increasing numbers, take additional money from the education budget.

Double whammy for the local state schools: left with less able children and less money at their disposal. That seems to be our local situation, anyway. I'll ask our local education 'Cabinet' representative if that is still true.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The BBC is at again, granting a TV interview to the deplorable, disgraced Chris Woodhead. Why do they do? Don't they know he was rightly cast aside long ago?

[MrGongGong]

I wouldn't worry too much about Woodlouse
music is likely to vanish from the curriculum soon anyway without even a glimmer of concern from those who profess to be "music lovers"

[MrGongGong]

I guess no one really gives a monkeys
but for those who might

this is worth reading

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2011/oct/04/music-education-plan-henley-review

as is this

http://jsavage.org.uk/

never mind though as we can always have the likes of the Prof going into schools and spreading joy and happiness and an interest in a wide range of musics

[teamsaint]

Conservative and libdem ministers. Most of them have never done an honest days work. Most of them never been near a state school other than a photo opportunity.

Quite what gives them the right to express any kind of view on what is best for sudents or teachers in those places, in what are often very trying circumstances, is well beyond my understanding.

The blind leading the fully sighted.


This country will be a much better place when one day, our country and its education is rid of the eton educated tiny minority and the likes of woodhead, and we can get on with running our own affairs in an intelligent and progressive way.

Personally, i blame the Normans. country never really recovered.
(incidentally, quite why the Norman invasion, and the slavery they imposed on us , is treated in such an obsequeous way in school history is also a mystery to me.)

[vinteuil]

Personally, i blame the Normans. country never really recovered.

... this racism is unacceptable: I intend to report you to FF. I am a descendant of those Normans you disparage

[greenilex]

One of the many things I am is Saxon from the Shore. Get ready to rumble...not.