The 'PIRIS' tests which cover 41 assorted countries revealed, as notedrecently in this column, a worrying trend towards mediocrity in UKprimary education. What is it that has enabled children in some of theunderdeveloped nations to grasp the rudiments of language andmathematics so successfully? Is it because of new teaching methods whichhave somehow passed us by? Has it been that these countries, many ofwhich are abjectly poor, have been able to throw more money into primaryeducation than us? I suspect not.
One of my employees told me a disturbing story last week. Originallyfrom Mauritius, she is a single mother of a boy nearly seven, who hasattended nurseries and a primary school in London. I recently asked herhow he was settling in, knowing that he had been subjected to bullyingduring his first few months at school. She told me she had decided tosend him back to Mauritius, so he could attend school there.
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