The Student Room Group

40% teenagers don't pass English or Maths

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Original post by JordanL_
So, so true, especially the last bit. When they find themselves completely unemployable they blame it on immigration. It's absolutely pathetic.


Yes it is. And even those that arent academically bright and dont do well in school, you notice that immigrants tend to have a better work ethic and understand working their way up. We have a generation of kids that expect instant gratification, so they refuse to work a "lower" job like being a cleaner or binman , but immigrants will study alongside that to better themselves or do without luxuries and put all that money into achieving their dream, like doing their pilots license. Later they get a job as a pilot and the British kids get angry because they havent got a pilots license and a well-paying job, despite the fact that they refused to work for it.

We need to sort our country out pronto!
Original post by patheticboy
Yes it is. And even those that arent academically bright and dont do well in school, you notice that immigrants tend to have a better work ethic and understand working their way up. We have a generation of kids that expect instant gratification, so they refuse to work a "lower" job like being a cleaner or binman , but immigrants will study alongside that to better themselves or do without luxuries and put all that money into achieving their dream, like doing their pilots license. Later they get a job as a pilot and the British kids get angry because they havent got a pilots license and a well-paying job, despite the fact that they refused to work for it.

We need to sort our country out pronto!


This is another really good point. So many people seem to come home from work and just watch TV or whatever, and it never even occurs to them to try to better themselves. They do the absolute bare minimum and then wonder why they're stuck in minimum wage work. I have a huge amount of respect for people that work to better themselves outside of school or work, and they deserve all the success they get, whether they're British natives or not.

We need more immigrants, not less. Hopefully we'll get to a point where people take responsibility and start working harder to compete, instead of demanding that we throw all the competition out of the country.
Reply 82
Original post by JordanL_
This is another really good point. So many people seem to come home from work and just watch TV or whatever, and it never even occurs to them to try to better themselves. They do the absolute bare minimum and then wonder why they're stuck in minimum wage work. I have a huge amount of respect for people that work to better themselves outside of school or work, and they deserve all the success they get, whether they're British natives or not.

We need more immigrants, not less. Hopefully we'll get to a point where people take responsibility and start working harder to compete, instead of demanding that we throw all the competition out of the country.


Again, very, very true! The more jobs immigrants take from these people who do the bare minimum, the more they'll understand the importance of education, and we can start resolving this national problem we have.
Original post by JordanL_


I know a lot of people that can't use capital letters or simple punctuation, people that mix up homophones and spell everything phonetically ("our" becomes "are":wink:. It's crazy. It's no wonder people can't get jobs, their CVs must be absolute disasters.


I've come across people like this and it's really basic words. I admit I did used to struggle with there, their and they're. But I'd just have to think about it. I used to know someone whose spelling was terrible. It was rare for me to be able to actually read his text messages because they were just so full of spelling mistakes. And it was simple words.
Original post by Drunq
What are your opinions that teenagers do not get a C or above in english or maths?

We are mostly talking about native english speakers as well not being able to pass english above a level C.

I find this odd because international students who come here for university often speak less english than native speakers and are classed as a higher level at speaking / writing english.

Is this fair? and should Britain step up their game and make these 40% of teenagers pass their basic skills?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/36130539/how-clever-you-have-to-be-to-work-in-a-nursery-with-gcse-maths-and-english


It should be more like 90%. The current GCSE is more like a CSE than an 'O' level.
Since 67 came into existence, more people assume that an ordinary way of living is to sell weed and dip a man in the alley :K:

On a more serious note though, I go to a school full of people who get below a grade C in Maths & English. Generally, it's not because they have lower intelligence than other people, it's just they don't value their education or they find pursuing further education 'long'
Reply 86
Original post by LelouchViRuge
Since 67 came into existence, more people assume that an ordinary way of living is to sell weed and dip a man in the alley :K:

On a more serious note though, I go to a school full of people who get below a grade C in Maths & English. Generally, it's not because they have lower intelligence than other people, it's just they don't value their education or they find pursuing further education 'long'


The thing that's going to be 'long' for them is getting multiple jobs to feed their family. Now, that is 'long'.
I passed English which is fine, but I'm currently studying to get my Maths! At my old school they only focused on helping the students who were aiming to get As and A*s. At my new school where I am for sixth form the teacher is REALLY motivating :smile: I'm understanding it much more now so I'm optimistic to pass this time!

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Reply 88
Original post by thevamps99xo
I passed English which is fine, but I'm currently studying to get my Maths! At my old school they only focused on helping the students who were aiming to get As and A*s. At my new school where I am for sixth form the teacher is REALLY motivating :smile: I'm understanding it much more now so I'm optimistic to pass this time!

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i think it is about the teachers motivating you why you need to pass. And the school to be less strict on policies and slowly explain to the person why it is suitable to pass. Not to have a go at them.
Original post by paul514
Lazy parents is the cause not teaching their kids the right way to go about things in life


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I think that the laziness of parents is a societal issue though.
Most people have no idea about child development, human psychology, or academia.
Original post by hellodave5
I think that the laziness of parents is a societal issue though.
Most people have no idea about child development, human psychology, or academia.


You don't need to have a degree to realise that having crap parents isn't giving a child the best of chances.

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Original post by hellodave5
I think that the laziness of parents is a societal issue though.
Most people have no idea about child development, human psychology, or academia.


And the parents not being arsed to learn and put in practice what is best for their children is what makes them lazy for the most case.

There will always be some that have all sorts of issues that prohibits them from learning what's best but it's an extreme minority


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Original post by Moonstruck16
You don't need to have a degree to realise that having crap parents isn't giving a child the best of chances.

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Then why are there such discrepancies between those from low and high socioeconomic status and achievement? You don't need resources to provide an auspicious upbringing.
What I'm saying is to be good parents, you have to understand at least to some degree the concept of 'good parenting'. Not to suggest that good parenting is synonymous with academic focus or anything like that, more general personal development.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by paul514
And the parents not being arsed to learn and put in practice what is best for their children is what makes them lazy for the most case.

There will always be some that have all sorts of issues that prohibits them from learning what's best but it's an extreme minority


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I would put blame on the parents but many think they're doing a good job when really there are significant issues, and so the parents education and society in general are perhaps more to blame.
Take cultural differences etc., where a lack of flexibility and being 'strict' is deemed favorable, whilst its shown to be problematic and vastly inferior to democratic parenting. Some people use violence or threats of it to dissuade bad behavior; or conversely spend all their time at work 'to provide' and completely forget about and neglect their children.
your you're could of there their they're lose loose

fix that stupid elementary school's grammar mistake first
Reply 95
Original post by patrickstarfish
your you're could of there their they're lose loose

fix that stupid elementary school's grammar mistake first


grammar would help them out in life when they're writing their CVs. However even if this is fixed, how about the people failing maths?
Original post by Drunq
grammar would help them out in life when they're writing their CVs. However even if this is fixed, how about the people failing maths?


calculator

you know why asian people stereotype is smart at math? because calculator is forbidden. it's to train our brain.
i'm foreign asian student, and let me say this. european math is extremely easy. especially with calculator and formula book. it's like your curriculum is provided for lazy people who don't want to think.
Original post by patrickstarfish
calculator

you know why asian people stereotype is smart at math? because calculator is forbidden. it's to train our brain.


You would've been surprised how many people cannot even use it properly- even in simple equations!

Putting that aside; calculators will not make anyone better at maths- sure, they'll help but if you have no idea about the formulae etc it won't help you.

Personally, judging from fact that I got A in Maths and B in English- which isn't even my native tongue- I consider people who couldn't even achieve C as a slightly retarded. I managed it while working and having real, adult life- if 16 years olds with their "problems" cannot do it, well, they are morons.

but, from the other side, the system in which teacher/student decides if they will bother to get a higher level exam or standard one is idiotic as well- they should be taught the whole curriculum, and achieve adequately to what they've learn.

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Original post by patrickstarfish
i'm foreign asian student, and let me say this. european math is extremely easy. especially with calculator and formula book. it's like your curriculum is provided for lazy people who don't want to think.

yeah, as long as you have the formula book everything is simple(-ish).
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by hellodave5
Take cultural differences etc., where a lack of flexibility and being 'strict' is deemed favorable, whilst its shown to be problematic and vastly inferior to democratic parenting. Some people use violence or threats of it to dissuade bad behavior.


I'm not really sure where you get that idea. My parents were always very "strict" with me and my siblings. It wasn't a case of simply "threatening", it was very much a case of following through. Yet I have a master's, one of my brothers is doing a phd, and the other two are working on their bachelor's.

Personally, I think parents should adopt a parenting style that is consistent, that's the main requirement.

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