just thought this would be useful in view of the post 'O' level
applications and the impending "A' level results.
Source : http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,101888,00.html?
MORE and more teenagers who are entering Oxford and Cambridge
universities are arriving with a 'fear of numbers' and appalling
spelling and punctuation.
Admissions tutors at these and other top British universities
complain that the students cannot write in proper sentences or
think for themselves and even those with good A-levels expect to be
spoonfed, reported the Daily Mail.
The Nuffield Foundation's review of the curriculum for 14- to
19-year-olds, conducted by researchers at Oxford University's
educational studies department and the Universities and Colleges
Admission Service, is embarrassing.
It shows that teenagers are securing admissions to top universities
without even being able to use an apostrophe.
Some institutions have to postpone courses until the second year of
undergraduate study to make time for remedial teaching.
The report follows research from the Association of Graduate
Recruiters, which revealed that half of the UK's leading employers
will struggle to recruit good-quality graduates this year.
The latest report, leaked to the Times Higher Education Supplement,
is based on a survey of 250 admissions staff from 16 universities
including Oxford and Cambridge.
Some blamed the government's target of 50 per cent of all young
people going for higher education by 2010 for falling
standards.
The report highlights the 'decline in the currency of A level for
admissions and selection purposes' due to the 'decreasing
usefulness' of the examination.
Students are far weaker than 10 years ago at reading critically,
communicating ideas in writing with correct grammar and being able
to argue their case.
Physics admissions tutors from an unidentified university said:
'They can't even write in sentences. Their spelling is appalling.
They can't be understood.'
A maths tutor at another university said: 'Students hate numbers.
They're scared stiff of numbers.'
Another complained that students just 'cut and paste essays from
the web' and 'reading books is a skill which has been lost'.
The report says that over-emphasis on exams and league tables has a
negative impact on children's learning, reducing their ability to
think for themselves.