Michael Weller’s letter (Echo Friday 26th April 2019) expresses his anger about what is happening in “Education” in this country at the moment .

I too am furious about the seemingly underhand methods being employed by Ofsted and their masters the Department of Education.

School inspections have become a weapon against schools to “justify” putting them out for academisation (privatisation).

There is certainly a hidden agenda and many schools in Dorset have been slated. This runs through the whole country, not just our local area.

How come schools recently classified as outstanding or good have suddenly been judged as unsatisfactory/requiring improvement and/or being put into “Special Measures”?

Many Head Teachers have “gone sick” and been replaced by acting Heads. Many “sick” teachers do not return and their careers have been damaged or destroyed. Why has this suddenly become an epidemic?

If these schools are so bad whose fault is it? Teachers who are struggling against cutbacks and lack of support? Government underfunding? Poor education policy?

Many loyal teachers are leaving because it is too stressful with all the red tape and bureaucratic paper chasing. They are dedicated but cannot teach under the present regime. So now we are short of teachers and the situation worsens every day.

This scenario reminds me of the persecutionist McCarthy trials of alleged Communists in the USA in the late 1940’s and 1950’s against free-thinkers. (If you don’t know about this, look it up).

Britain is becoming a police state where people are not allowed their own views on how they want to live and bring up their children. Regulations are forced upon them by the hierarchy.

As Michael Wheller implies, children should be taught to think for themselves to enable them to problem solve and to question the status quo intelligently.

It seems that the policy now is to produce clones who will be unable to be independent individuals. Soon many young pupils will be sitting in front of their very own screen in the classroom all day.

The teacher is almost superfluous as regards content of lessons. Discussion will die. All teaching will follow a strict programme. A rounded education will be a thing of the past and we’ll be left with “Stepford” young people who are complacent and compliant.

Thank goodness our present generation of teenagers and young adults are so forceful in their beliefs.

Think about it.

Bill James