April Fool's Day seems to have come early

Martin Johnson, the acting deputy general secretary of The Association of Teachers and Lecturers wants the national curriculum to be scrapped and also wants the testing system abolished.

I do agree that there needs to be work done on the SATs that children currently do at intervals throughout their time at school, however what Mr. Johnson is proposing is not simply verging on the ridiculous, it is completely ridiculous.

He is actually proposing the abolition of national examinations in subjects such as history and geography and replacing them with tests on life skills such as walking and thinking. He justifies this with the incredibly foolish statement :

"There's a lot to learn about how to walk," Mr Johnson said. "If you were going out for a Sunday afternoon stroll you might walk one way. If you are trying to catch the train you might walk in another way and if you are doing a day's cliff walk you might walk in another way. We need a nation of people who understand their bodies and can use their bodies effectively"

I sincerely hope that this is an April Fool inadvertantly issued a day earlybut sadly I think it is likely to be all to genuine.

Perhaps Mr. Johnson would like to observe just about any 2 year old in the country and realise that we are already bringing up a nation of people who understand their bodies and can use their bodies effectively without the need for ridiculous advice like this.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article1588751.ece