Britain should be "ashamed” of the extent of academic underachievement among schoolchildren, Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, has said in a withering attack on the state education system.


Mr Lambert said that despite the Government pumping millions of pounds into education, its constant “messing around” had left a generation of pupils without the relevant skills to succeed in business.

He sympathised with head teachers who he claimed have had to grapple with a “kaleidoscope” of “very complicated” changes to the education system in recent years.

As a result, youngsters’ education has suffered, meaning that Britain is now lumbered with one of the highest proportions of Neets (people not in employment, education or training) in the world, he warned.

Children from poor backgrounds are being particularly failed, Mr Lambert said.

In an interview with The Guardian, Mr Lambert said: “If you look at all the data you see as a country we spend a lot on educating kids, but the outcomes aren't great.

“There's a very long tail of under-performance. I think this is more than an educational issue, it's a social and cultural issue as well.


“Part of the story is the correlation between deprivation and poor academic outcomes, which are more marked in this country than we ought to be able to contemplate. We ought to be ashamed of the numbers.”

Earlier this month a breakdown of GCSE results suggested Britain has enjoyed sustained improvements over the past three years.

However, figures released by the Tories last month disclosed that just one-in-10 children in the most deprived communities leaves school with good GCSEs.

A study by Reform, the think tank, also warned that pupils in England are lagging behind those from other countries after being failed by an "intellectually deficient'' education system.

Mr Lambert said he believes that the problems are rooted in a “culture of low aspiration” that has pervaded over the past five decades.

He said he felt compelled to raise his concerns because employers are struggling to recruit people with the right skills, despite greater competition for jobs amid the recession.

Some employers have been forced to provide remedial classes to bring staff up to speed in the 3Rs, he said.

Mr Lambert added: "The OECD ((Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) figures show we have more drunkenness in students than any other country in the OECD.

"We have the fourth highest cohort of Neets after Turkey, Italy and Mexico, that can't be something we can be proud of.

“I would be critical of the government in the way that policy has seemed like a bit of a kaleidoscope. There are lots of initiatives, quite complex initiatives like the diplomas programme. Very, very complicated.

“I would hate to be a head teacher having to handle diplomas and GCSEs and A-levels and not quite knowing the extent to which they are going to be sustained or not sustained. I do think there has been a lot of messing around."

Ed Balls, the schools secretary, denied the claims saying that English schools were now performing well compared with those in other developed countries, in maths and sciences.

He said: "We have seen unprecedented steady and consistent improvement at all ages in the last 12 years after decades of stagnation.

“Yes, this has cost money but the entire school estate needed redeveloping to replace the tens of thousands of temporary classrooms with new, modern learning environments; teachers needed fair pay rises following years of low salaries and teacher shortages; and class sizes were too big for proper learning.

"I understand producer concerns about initiatives. But public sector reform is vital to ensure every school is a good school, every child is supported to learn and businesses get the skills they need."

I blame the parents,drink and sex culture we have in Britain. :P Then again my m8 can spell FUDGE with his GCSE's back in my day.

It isn't just there..were not looking so good here either.

I am seriously thinking of getting out of the education sector after numerous reports similar to this one.............."It was claimed that teachers were being driven out of the profession by excessive Government red tape and a rise in bad behaviour among pupils.

The disclosure comes just days after it was revealed that growing numbers of children aged five and under are being suspended from school for assaulting adults and fellow pupils."

WOW!

I was just thinking the other day about the pros and cons considered if the US should annex England as our 51st State.

With this report the con list just overwhelmed the scale.
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I am seriously thinking of getting out of the education sector after numerous reports similar to this one.............."It was claimed that teachers were being driven out of the profession by excessive Government red tape and a rise in bad behaviour among pupils.

^all the good teachers end up being recruited by the private schools here in Phila, and they leave in droves, why? because of the lack of support they receive from the administative part of the educational system. The lack of proper teaching tools, (most schools don't even have books, it's true) and the number 1 reason is because of the behavior of the children and or their parents and guardians, it's a cesspool and any kid that goes to highschool here in the inner city can gruduate with a B average if they have good attendance and aren't a behavioral problem. That's pathetic, because some of them try to go to college and over 80% drop out because they can't handle the curriculum, sounds like you have the same problems over there....

well the easiest thing in the world would be to walk away, however the right thing to do would be to organize "all" the teachers and put your foot down and tell the dipshi.t bureaucratic wheels of education, what it will take for you all to turn it around, problem with that is, teachers like every where else, can't work together as a team anymore, they are far too caught up in their personal lives and accomplishments to see the overall goal that could be accomplished if they were united....Plus I honestly feel that taking religion and discipline out of the schools hands created the monsters we now have patrolling the halls.....

You do understand she's talking about the English system.
She lives and teaches in England!

My husband(soon to be ex) taught at the college level in Wales and he loved the kids but hated the system. He eventually left.

I think there is a lot of juvenile delinquency in Britain as there is here but there is also much less of a united front. Several countries were kind of FORCED into being British and none seem too happy or interested in Assimilating to some common good. I think when there is such division within, and you throw in poverty,,,there are bound to be some serious dire consequences. I think, maybe, the countries were doing better independently before becoming BRITAIN, but im no historian,, maybe someone could confirm or correct my assumption.

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I hope you folks don't think your alone in this world . we aren't the world leaders in morals either . I have heard the government may be able to fix the problem soon ..THERE GOING TO REMOVE THE WORD MORALS FROM THE DICTIONARY . they learned that from the republicians .

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I grew up here and went to school here and all i have to say is ( what good teachers ) . if they were doing there jobs they wouldn't have all those forms to fill out .we want what we are paying for not excuses . some day bank robberty well no longer be a problem when every one is robbing banks and the government does not want to look worthless they can just make bank robbery legal and then we can say crime has gone down and that banks are no longer being stole from .. great day from crime enforcement . good job guys .

You do understand she's talking about the English system

^really, well duh...she lives in England, but in this case it can be easily compared with the U. S., the public system anyways.

It seems Britain and the USA are on par on most things educational, with Canada and Australia following the trend. I have friends in this sector in the USA, Canada and Australia and from their reports it is not far removed from the situation in Britain.