The Tories' new wheeze for unemployable demobbed squaddies. Send them to frighten the bairns.

[non sociopath skin]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/07/conservative-education-policy-michael-gove

The mind fucking boggles.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

The Skin

[Hopeless Romantic]

1. Lunatics - They'll be bringing back the cane next

[oldironside]

2. They really don´t have a clue.

As a former secondary school teacher I can honestly say this is the most laughable idea I´ve ever heard. This is so far from reality that I´m reminded of Rowan Atkinson´s speech to the Tory conference on Not The Nine O´Clock News way back when.
"We´re going to give these... bastards a short sharp shock. Some people may say it´s harsh to introduce the electric chair into young offenders´ institutes. Well, it is harsh..."

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

I've no objection to someone saying to departing soldiers "have you thought of teaching?" if they actually do have the aptitude for it, but they should go through the normal system liker everyone else. This really smacks of a 'hard man' to send in and scare the problem kids, and never mind if they're not actually too good at the teaching. I hope they're not planning on turning a blind eye to any results.

[fedsron2us]

4. Ironically quite a few of the teachers at my brothers Secondary Modern

in the 1970s were ex soldiers. To be fair some of them were actually quite good at the job.

[non sociopath skin]

5. And almost all of mine - the males, anyway - were, at Grammar School in the 60s ...

... they'd either done wartime service or been "called up" for National Service.

But I'd venture to suggest that that's a rather different situation from the one the Nasty Party have in mind ...

The Skin

[oldironside]

6. Judging by the story...

... and the scant few details Gove gave (or is it Gave gove?) they will not be teaching, but in some undefined disciplinary role. Standing guard on the gate? But certainly not with QTS. So, in academic terms, useless.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

7. Sounds like masturbation fodder for grass roots and backbench Tories

although I'm more concerned by this gem in the article

The state monopoly over schools would be removed, with every school offered the chance to opt out and become an independent academy.

It's basically, let's sell-off public assets cheaply to private enterprise and make sure it's the rich kids who get in the best schools.

[non sociopath skin]

8. "Red meat for the blue rinses" as we used to say in Thatcher's Day

The Skin

[T_i_B]

10. From what I can see....

The Acadamy system seems to be a way for LEA's to get rid of "problem" schools. Certainly in Sheffield the Acadamies have taken over some of the very worst schools in the city.

I'll wait to be convinced of their merits until they start shooting up the exam tables myself.

[non sociopath skin]

12. I think that the majority of academies are accidents waiting to happen.

The Skin

[T_i_B]

9. Well I'd rather see 'em there then on the scrapheap

Too many people leave the army only to end up homeless, unemployed and will all sorts of personal problems. I think just about all the Big Issue sellers in Colchester are ex-army and I've had ex-squaddies begging at the bottom of my road before now, which is not good.

So to be blunt about it a lot more needs to be done for people leaving the army, especially where they've joined straight from school and that's all they have known.

[non sociopath skin]

11. So what have schools done to deserve people who are unemployable elsewhere?

And what, exactly, do you think they're going to bring to them?

You're right that there's a much bigger issue of why so many demobbed squaddies go to seed, but I hardly see this as an alternative to selling Big Issue or stacking shelves in Tescos.

The Skin

[Nihil]

13. Same as always: they exist.

Remember the old adage: "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach."?
Looks like that is the new Tory education policy.

Before you pile on me I don't hold with it (my wife's family is/was full
of teachers so I've seen a lot of the "inside story") but it was a
well-known saying that took special relevance after the world wars
(when there was a glut of men needing work) and national service.

I have two main gripes with their "solution":
In common with most people upthread, I detest the way that the ex-soldiers
are turfed out onto the scrap-heap. The Big Issue seems to be a major
employer of them around here too.

I am also livid about yet another dumb political idea being foisted on
the schools as this directly and indirectly f*cks up the kids. Even if
we wave away the potential problems of worn-out combat troops being
put in a stressful environment that they are totally unsuited to handling,
we are still left with the fact that the government (wannabe) will be
forcing schools to employ a person that they do not need or want and
yet, by having to pay for them, will be unable to employ a teacher
that they *do* want. Furthermore, it will probably provide some free
recruitment for the services from the "shelf-stacker" students who will
only see the "hard, ex-serviceman" rather than the "unemployed cannon-fodder"
of the government's view.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

15. Indeed

It will only take a tiny few incidents of ex-squaddies acting inappropriately in schools for the press to jump on it. Anything involving danger to children brings out the most reactive emotions in the tabloids (plus the public lap it up).

Not that there's no role for ex-squaddies, but I'd prefer they be properly retrained, e.g. PGCE, B.Ed, QTS etc.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Agreed

[Anarcho-Socialist]

14. You make a point about being on the scrapheap

A large percentage of the male prison population are ex-forces, especially ex-Army.

I think investment in post-demob healthcare and financial support would yield better results. I would prefer the dismantling of Britain's military power, but there's no chance of that.