Something I know a little about having taught for 27 years. Is there too much testing and reporting – of course, we do not make plants grow by measuring them! The testing regeime was enhanced during the reign of terror instigated by various, mainly, but not exclusively, Tory governments who were intellectually bereft, My daughter had to undertake 110 externally marked exams up to and including A Level, where she got 3 B’s and a D. Any competent teacher could have predicted this end result. She went on to get a 2.1 from Manchester University. At no point was she assessed for her research and analysis skills. I am not saying that all exams should be abolished – well maybe. Pay a school like Eton £60000 a year and they will coach your offspring to pass academic exams – that’s fair, not! Many politicans of all persuasion have great qualifications from private schools and OxBridge, but have shown intellectual stupidity when it comes to government of complicated issues. OFSTED also judge teachers and schools after a brief visit of amazing stress and paperwork. This could be made so much simpler by comparing exam results with socio-economic data of the students/and parents.
Parents can use OFSTED as an excuse for their offspring, and test results to berate te teacher – yet many homes are litary deserts with no written word in sight! And libraries have been closed (to save money? or as class vandalism?). I say this as someone who had a son aged 14 who only read the Argos catalogue! And before anyone comments on me being a bad parent and embarrassing my children, they never read this – to avoid the embarrassement that comes with every post! To ensure they all have been commented on, my eldest, who only did homework whilst watching neighbours, went on to get a PhD! I am not in favour of homework, in Geography it was pointless unless there was a natural disaster or some other big event, when I would ask students to watch news/documentaries – as any parent would.
So would I do away with exams totally – the answer is probably yes, they are designed to fail students, create stress and fail to provide the information that most employers want. Attendance records would be a help for many employers, but ultimately the best 2 appointments I made as Head of Geography were based on interview and personality, rather than academic results (I apologise for narrowing down to 2 – have have thought of several more since).
Back to the UK – farmers are alerting the government to potential food shortages due to the drought. It seems obvious that farmers should prepare for future droughts – and should recieve a grant for doing so, but some farmers abuse grants – so care should be seen, but also the retention of water on farms would reduce flood danger, enhance wildlife and be good generally.
At present fossil fuels are only providing 9.5% of our electricity. And there are still dumbasses out there who want to scale back on Net Zero. Even the car companies, if they are honest, want to comply!