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England witnessing educational division after age 11: watchdog

Xinhua, December 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

More than 400,000 children in England's north and Midlands regions attend high schools that are not good enough, the head of England's education watchdog said Tuesday.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Schools, said in his annual report for Ofsted, the country's school inspectorate, that England is "a nation divided at the age of 11." He described his finding as "deeply troubling."

Wilshaw said there is much to celebrate about England's schools, with more children than ever currently in good and outstanding schools. Primary schools in particular are excelling, he reported, with 85 percent now rated good or outstanding, up from 82 percent last year.

But he says the gap between primary and secondary schools has not narrowed. More worryingly it reveals that underperforming secondary schools are concentrated in the North and Midlands, where 410,000 children attend a secondary school that isn't good enough.

While the proportion of good and outstanding secondary schools has increased in the last year from 71 percent to 74 percent, the greatest improvement has been in southern England. In the North and Midlands just 68 percent of secondary schools are good or better.

Wilshaw said: "We are witnessing an educational division of the country after age 11, with secondary schools performing well overall in the South but struggling to improve in the North and Midlands."

"The facts are stark. Compared to secondary school children in the South, those in the North and Midlands on average make less progress in English and maths, perform worse at GCSE and attain fewer top grades at A-level," he said.

"I fear that unless we resolve these divisions our country's educational progress will be seriously impeded and we will not be able to compete as well with our international competitors."

Wilshaw said the key to raising standards in under-performing regions and cities was "collective action and political will."

His report also found achievements of pupils from low-income backgrounds remain a weakness in Britain's education system.

The report highlights recruitment as a serious problem, particularly for schools in challenging areas, which are facing severe difficulties securing good teachers and leaders they need. Endit