Slightly Missing the Point

Have I actually gone insane? Or has the world?

Schools will be banned from encouraging bright pupils to take A-levels instead of new vocational courses under laws published today.

I've a feeling that it's that part of the world which rules over us which has gone ga-ga: I've managed to get as far as lunch today without any other obvious signs of lunacy so it can't be me.

The point of having an education system which splits into a vocational and an academic stream (as, for example, that of Finland does, often regarded as one of the best in the world) is that those who are best suited to one or the other should be encouraged into one or the other.

That the nerds, who are going to go on to cure cancer, design bridges and build bases on the Moon should be left with their books and slide rules, while those who are going to go on to treat cancer patients, build bridges and houses here on Earth should get the training they need to do those things.

This is the very point of having the division in the first place. So far from banning the encouragement the Government should be insisting that schools be insistent about it.

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