One would think that English being their native language, people in England and in the rest of the British Commonwealth would have no problem with their English. But it looks like they are having very serious problems today writing in English. As reported by
The Daily Telegraph of London, Education Secretary Michael Gove said recently that the building blocks of English had been “demolished by those who should have been giving our children a solid foundation in learning.” In a speech, Gove said: “Thousands of children—including some of our very brightest—leave school unable to compose a proper sentence, ignorant of basic grammar, incapable of writing a clear and accurate letter. And it’s not surprising when the last government explicitly removed the requirement to award a set number of marks for correct spelling, punctuation and grammar in examinations.” The result, as pointed out by business leaders, is that too many young people leave school “not fit for work.”
This situation has prompted a White Paper that proposes to reverse a decision of the British government seven years ago to scrap rewards for good literacy. Under the measure, students will lose up to five per cent of marks in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations* if they fail to display high standards of written English in all subjects, including mathematics and science.
Read “Education: pupils will lose marks for poor grammar and spelling” in The Daily Telegraph of London now!My attention was called to this news story by Fr. Sean Coyle, a native English-speaker from Ireland who has been doing missionary work in the Philippines since 1971. A new member of the Forum, Fr. Cole sent me the following e-mail last November 20:
Dear Mr Carillo
You may be interested in this article in The Daily Telegraph (London).
The GCSE is the national exam students in England and Wales and, I think, in Northern Ireland take after three years of secondary school. They take A-levels, also a national exam, two years later, usually when they are around 18. Scotland, though part of the UK, has its own educational system.
I am forever grateful to my Fourth Grade teacher, the late John Galligan, who gave us a thorough grounding in grammar in both Irish (Gaelic) and English and who also stimulated my interest in writing and in journalism. I didn’t realize at the time what a good teacher he was. I also came to see years later that he was a wonderful mentor in every sense of that word.
I am inclined to think that there has been a decline in written English in Ireland.
God bless
(Fr) Sean Coyle
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*The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales, Gibraltar, and Northern Ireland. (In Scotland, the equivalent is the Standard Grade.)
