SHIREBROOK Academy principal Mark Cottingham says that it comes as no surprise to him that the UK’s 15-year-olds are more unhappy than ever before.
Here is his monthly column for local newspaper, the Mansfield and Ashfield Chad.
“So, the results are in, and the message is that although the UK’s 15-year-olds are improving academically, they’re more unhappy than ever before.
“That’s according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which surveyed 15-year-olds across 79 countries and, happily for us, found that the UK is 10th in the world when it comes to attainment at maths, English and science.
“So far, so good, except that the study also measures life satisfaction and the bad news is that, while their attainment in the three-R’s has gone up, our 15-year-olds’ happiness with the one-L – Life – has gone down, with the UK languishing in 69th place out of 72 in the contentment league.
“Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me. Every day we see students whose families are struggling in the face of cuts to social care, health and youth services, while, as far as the Department for Education are concerned, students are little more than living, breathing pieces of data sitting on a spread sheet.
“Due to DfE diktats, their curriculum is increasingly restrictive with fewer practical and vocational options and schools’ resources are stretched to the bone, while the way exam grades are allocated means that only around 66% of candidates will attain a pass grade of 4 or above.
“That’s just how the system works. What does that say to the “forgotten third” of students who inevitably fail every year?
“And what about those who still have the support and ambition to go to university – which they will leave clutching a bill of £60,000, with no guarantee of a fulfilling career at the end of it?
“To teenagers, family life and school pretty much encompass your entire life, so if life is getting tougher on the home front and schools are becoming under-resourced and fun-free hothouses, then this will inevitably have a negative impact.
“This should be a cause of national concern, but it won’t be, of course.
“We’ll look at the academic improvement and say we’re moving in the right direction, but that more hard work is needed if we’re going to emulate the best-performing European state, Estonia – where, surprise, surprise, the fact that schools are better resourced, there are fewer tests and school meals and transport are free for all, will get totally overlooked.”
