Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Whatever happened to geography?

The complaints over the years about what school History syllabuses have left out have been many and justified.
Few however, mention Geography, a subject which has been totally emasculated at the same time in the 'dumbing down era' which has sought to ensure that youngsters have little usable knowledge about the world they inhabit.
The absence of knowledge of locations - cities, mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, oceans, countries and even continents is lamentable.
The syllabuses are not necessarily attackable for what they include as much as for what they leave out.
[All of this goes back to that time - and it remains with us - when educationists have lamely insisted that "memory is not a true part of education."]

Phew.