Forward
Professor Wolf argues that we need a wholesale realignment of incentives. Performance tables, funding systems and regulatory compliance are all pushing in the wrong direction – against the better judgment of teachers and lecturers working in our schools and colleges. To take one particularly shocking example: the system actively discourages 16-19 year olds from catching up with their English and Maths so that each year 300,000 18 year olds start adult life without the equivalent of a Maths or English GCSE.
Implementing these reforms so that we get the structure right will not, as she acknowledges, be simple. It will take years. But if we are going to give all our young people the opportunities they deserve we must get it right. Thanks to Professor Wolf we now have a guide to get us there.
Michael Gove MP,
Secretary of State for Education.
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