In the days when my father left school before his 14th birthday, 'education for the plebs' was a straightforward matter. The 3 'R's were referred to constantly and a certain amount of Geography and History were added. There was some debate as to whether Science fell into the remit of such schools or not. Art and crafts were an occasional variant.The education was basic and certainly would not usually contain Latin or languages.
I know that my prejudices against 'Mickey Mouse subjects' are legendary but perhaps we might consider the case of a young man of my knowledge.
I have never met the young gentleman concerned but his mother's description clearly shows that he is of low ability.
He has been following a course in Media Studies which he has enjoyed - [big deal] - and as a 16 year old this summer, he is preparing to leave school and go to college where he is going to pursue his education in - wait for it - yes, MEDIA STUDIES.
In the name of all sanity - WHY? What is the purpose of this other than to keep him off the streets and off the dole queues for a while?
The course is neither academic nor vocational - so just WHAT IS IT?
This young man is heading, thoroughly unprepared, for a working lifetime which is going to be riddled with disappointments and the finger of blame must be pointed firmly at the so-called educators.
Tragically, the boy's mother is not especially bright and was simply unable to grasp that the boy has been ill advised in school to an almost criminal extent.
