The first is from The Telegraph whose Simon Heffer reports that:
"One difficulty with Radio 4's Today programme is how it presents, in the mildest terms, the most outrageous news that causes me almost to crash my car when I hear it. One such near-miss took place on Thursday. In a discussion about the profound failure of the Government's £5 billion adult literacy drive, an unfortunate young man who was struggling in the world of work because of his inability to read properly was interviewed about the lack of help he had received. The crash almost came when it was mentioned, in passing, that he had seven GCSEs.
Now I do not wish to be problematical, but could somebody tell me this: how in God's name does someone get seven GCSEs if he can't read? Is not much that is wrong with our suffering country revealed at a stroke by that admission? Does it not reflect the dismal nature of our schools, the dismal nature of what passes for public qualifications, and above all the dismal nature of the educationalists who have made such an absurdity of the GCSE system and the politicians who endorse them? "
The second is from The Mail who report that:
"One ambition was fixed in Ali Moeen Nawazish's mind as he made his way through school in Pakistan. He wanted to win a place at Cambridge.
Sitting seven A-levels might easily have done the trick, even though he had started to study some of the subjects only three days before the exam.
But he was determined to get some good grades. So he sat another three, and three more. Then another nine. Just in case, he took a couple of AS levels along the way."
I'll repeat the key part of that
"Sitting seven A-levels might easily have done the trick, even though he had started to study some of the subjects only three days before the exam."Three days study to get an A grade at A'level, but definitely no dumbing down of standards...
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