I thought I would go back to this thread as these issues are linked to it.

I found this first one very disappointing in the LET ysterday. It's the 2nd paragraph that does it for me really.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk...ashire_pupils/
"the Government’s 30 per cent target for five A*-C GCSEs including English and maths by 2011"

Can you really get much lower aspirations than this? Only 30% as a target!

then I read this today
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...lass-male.html

I can't argue with it very much.

The 2 articles are intrinsically linked. They demonstrate how current & previous Govts have devalued and destroyed our education to such an extent that it is now a Govt target for 70% of kids to be underperforming at the age of 16.
Also how much effort, mainly cosmetic, has been put in to helping the ethnic "communities" (I hate that term) whilst the white minimum wage/benefits class families are largely left to sink or swim.

Our Country is still a great country. Wherever I have been in the World, I am still glad to come back to the UK as I think we have the best deal.
But we are slipping slowly but surely and something has to be done before we slip too far.

My worry is, that I do not see anyone that is going to turn this slide in to a dip. The young need to aspire to something other than unemployment and an appearance on Jeremy Kyle.