It’s a sad reflection of life today that teenagers need to be taught how to manage their debt as part of the school curriculum.
Isn’t school meant to be the happiest days of your life? While it makes good sense to prepare our young people about the realities of everyday life, it also highlights the gloomy future they could face.
We are told our future generation of children face the prospect of even more years in debt than their parents, even before they get on the housing ladder.
Iain Duncan Smith, who chairs the Conservative social justice policy group, this month warned that personal debts will have reached the equivalent of an average £54,452 per household. His team discovered that nine million Britons have confessed to serious debt problems. What will their future be? Now we told this number will continue to rise, our schoolchildren today are tomorrow’s debtors.
I’m certainly concerned about my son David taking on thousands of pounds of debt to pay for his university education, the fact that he will start his working life with a huge millstone around his neck. Everyone says “it’s normal”, which is another way of saying that being in debt is normal because there is no alternative.
So no wonder our school kids need lessons on happiness, they have so much worrying ahead of them. I would suggest that the lesson on happiness follows the one on debt management, that they end the day on a positive note.
*And this makes me question changes to the Maths GCSE being introduced from September which could result in fewer pupils being able to achieve good grades. For some reason, there are presently three different Maths GCSE papers – a higher, intermediate and lower. Why we can’t simply have one paper, I do not know.
My eldest son passed the intermediate paper last year with the highest grade possible – a B. We will never know if he could have passed at A as the paper did not include work to that level.
From September, the intermediate grade will be dropped. It means my youngest son James has got to be entered for the new higher paper to reach a B grade as the new foundation paper only goes as high as C. James did really well in his maths SATS, but missed out on a level-7 by two points. A level-7 is above the national average, and several pupils also reached a level-8, which is astounding. A level-6 is deemed average for these 14-year-olds.
James’ predicament is that he must pass maths at B-grade to apply for good business studies degree courses; this is what I have discovered is a minimum requirement during my recent trawl of universities with David, and James is thinking along the same lines. If James works hard at maths this year, there is a chance he could be entered in the higher paper, it is a lot of stress and his future career could be affected by this result. He would have been perfect for the intermediate paper which has been scrapped.
I wonder how many other parents are aware of this, and its implications. Why is it so complicated to take a maths GCSE? Why can’t there just be one paper so all students stand the same chance to show their ability?
Let’s spend more time working on teaching quality maths – as well as English. We are told increasing numbers of teenagers are not achieving good grades in these vital subjects, these are the core subjects where a high standard needs to be achieved to help secure future employment and higher education. To ultimately keep debt at a minimum.
It is very hard to decide on which courses to take, let alone what level maths. Do you take the intermediate knowing you’re limited to how high a grade you can get or do you take the higher and risk not being able to reach the level or even cope with the course? And do you have all the information you need for your child to be able to decide whether to take single, double or triple science and will his choice later limit him in university course options?
It was simpler in my day! Although I wanted to do maths and boilogy for A-level and the school had to sort me out my own timetable with my own teacher! (That’s meant to be biology but doesn’t it look like something you wold learn at Hogwarts?)
In years of studying entry profiles of University undergraduates, we discovered only two statistically significant predictors of eventual degree grade. I’m sure you know already: you must be able to express yourself, and you must be able to count. In other words, better grades in GCSE maths and English were highly correlated with degree outcome. Motivated students seem to be able to pick up other skills in the lecture room, laboratory, and so on.
Hi Elle, this is selection by the ability to pay – or the ability and willingness to take debt.
Of course a doctor who has to repay tuition fees will claim he needs higher wages, which in turn raises the nhs bill – or reduces the number of doctors on the nhs.
And I really don’t care that a large number of doctors on the nhs graduated ‘abroad’ that the only way to become a doctor in the US is by paying fees.
Medical students still only pay a token fee of what £1500 a year, and yes without maintenance grants and with student loans they’ll come out with high debt – demanding higher wages.
Not all graduates can expect a ‘guaranteed’ high paid job on the nhs.
Sure a booming economy in Europe (and globally) has meant that we have been creating more jobs and enjoyed low unemployment.
But high house prices, and high student debt are only sustainable if you can keep creating high paid jobs for graduates – and that still doesn’t address the very real dilemma that faces those on lower incomes, with less or no qualifications, or with less abilities & opportunities. It is ironic that New Labour and Blair’s Thatcherism has actually increased the gap between incomes at a faster rate than Thatcher and Conservatives. The only saving grace has been the growth in employment, low unemployment and the growing transcontinental EU economy.
“Everyone says “it’s normalâ€?, which is another way of saying that being in debt is normal because there is no alternative.”
It is the nature of the beast!
I think it’s dreadful that anyone who has been to univ has to start out their working life with the millstone of debt: it’s bad enough later on. I saw IDS on Sky yesterday, going on about tax breaks for families, which I think is entirely unfair to the single. Can’t comment on the maths papers as I’m not an expert in that area, except to say that I’ve always thought “tier entry” to be stupid.
A lesson on happiness might not be a bad idea.
By the way, Ellee. I’m back from vacation, and my Journal will restart Tuesday.
Ellee, It’s not about Maths. it’s about personal responsibility.
Ellee, I wish you and your boys the best of luck.
Interestingly you highlight in one post two issues which are subject to Nu Labour deceit. This Government has been a disaster for our country – it hides true levels of inflation.
There is the everyday economic inflation whereby essentials are costing more and more, but this is offset by Chinese imports and the degrading of products such as bin liners, light bulbs and matches. I asked an electrician if my house wiring was defective because of the amount of bulbs we are getting through – no, this is because light bulbs are not of the same quality as they once were. Then, of course, there is housing – the great con being that we are getting richer because of the housing ‘boom’. No ! We are getting poorer – essential workers are being priced out and parents who think they have benefited from rocketing prices are paying for it when they have to bail out their children.
Then there is grade inflation in the exam system and the total debasement of the ‘A’ level. This is why they system has required augmentation of such complexity.
Tony Blair sullies and infects every single thing he comes into contact with. I’ve never hated anyone so much.
quite right. it is using schools, i.e. comps, for social engineering rather than education that got us into this terrible educational mess.
The answer is not more interefering from government. The Tories should be the party awake to this!
It is so difficult for parents to keep up with these changes, I’m sure. And also I’m very sure that you can’t just leave it up to the school to make sure everyone is doing the right courses for his/her desired path, should they have a desired path.
Do anyone get free university education any more or does everyone have to pay now?