Exams put too much pressure on children. And on the politicians who insist they don't put too much pressure on children.
As we know from today's news of a primary school exams boycott, or "kids' strike", it's tough being a schoolchild in Britain today. But apparently it's also tough being a Schools Minister.
Nick Gibb, Minister of State at the Department for Education, failed a SATs grammar question for 11-year-olds on the BBC's World at One today. Having spent all morning defending the primary school exams system - criticised by tens of thousands of parents for putting too much pressure on young children - he fell victim to the very test that has come under fire.
Listen here:
Martha Kearney: Let me give you this sentence, “I went to the cinema after I’d eaten my dinner”. Is the word "after" there being used as a subordinating conjunction or as a preposition?
Nick Gibb: Well, it’s a proposition. “After” - it's...
MK: [Laughing]: I don’t think it is...
NG:“After” is a preposition, it can be used in some contexts as a, as a, word that coordinates a subclause, but this isn’t about me, Martha...
MK: No, I think, in this sentence it’s being used a subordinating conjunction!
NG: Fine. This isn’t about me. This is about ensuring that future generations of children, unlike me, incidentally, who was not taught grammar at primary school...
MK: Perhaps not!
NG: ...we need to make sure that future generations are taught grammar properly.
