Should GCSE formate be changed over the next few years Essay

Should GCSE formate be changed over the next few years - Essay Example Recently, the education standards in the ‘General Certificate of Secondary Education’ have come under serious debate from educationists and people from the political circles, widely giving rise to the notion that the GCSE examination should altogether be abolished and replaced by another like the E-Bac. GCSE has recently been under heavy fire for leaving teenagers underprepared for University Education. The exam has been failing to train teenagers for the degree level of education (Shepherd, 2012). The gcse has been lagging behind in training students for higher education, especially in subjects like mathematics, geography, chemistry, biology, English and English Literature. GCSE has been found more focused on the results that the exams generate and not a broader prospect of education (Baker, 2012). The amount of course work has also been considerably reduced over the past decade. It has been reviewed by ofqual (regulator of qualification), that GCSE has been becoming in creasingly easier over the past decade, which is suggestive of falling standards of Education (Shepherd, 2012). ... tudents coming to out of the GCSE did not possess necessary skills regarding critical thinking and writing, which were necessarily required for the degree courses (Shepherd, 2012). The poll also revealed that the lecturers teaching the degree level subjects of English, business studies, geography and psychology were unimpressed by the exam standard and wanted more open-ended questions and an independent study orientation (shepherd, 2012). MCQ’s restrict the student’s ability to learn and remember complex forms of data and information, as it focuses on testing the students for parts of information on topics. Many believe that with the passing years the MCQ content of the exams has been greatly increasing while the descriptive essay like questions in the exams have reduced considerably, which are the real indicators of the amount and level of learning. In the 2012 review by ofqual, it was put forth that as compared to 2001, in 2010 human geography exam had fewer questions that tested the scientific knowledge of the students; 2008 biology exam also had an increased number of short answers and MCQ’s as compared to the exam in 2003; the 2010 geography exam was testing the pupils on fewer topics as compared to the exam that was put forth in the year 2001; and for the subject of Chemistry 2008 exam also showed more GCSE level questions as compared to the year 2003 (Shepherd, 2012). The Education Secretary, Micheal Gove says that the system of GCSE was â€Å"for a different age and a different world† (BBC, 2012). Mr. Gove believes the GCSE system to be outdated and that new exam system like E-Bac could help raise the bar again. The education secretary believes that changes in education system are necessary so that there can be â€Å"truly rigorous exams, competitive with the

International Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Organizations - Essay Example The lack of transparency in its procedures and the tendency for some or all of the permanent five to caucus in private are cause for concern. A more serious concern is the composition of the Council. It is not reasonable to suggest that the five winners of the Second World War, with the assistance of ten additional rotating member states, comprise a representative, legitimate or authoritative voice for a UN membership of 185. While certainly it would be good to have more representation where decision-making and policy-crafting in the UN is concerned, so as to accommodate the interests of developing countries, such moves might smack of tokenism if the single biggest roadblock is removed: the veto power. Historically, the veto power has been wielded to promote the partisan interests of superpower nations. It is obsolete and should be phased out. Second, more political will is needed on this issue of human rights. When the United Nations was created in 1948 by a world still reeling from the ravages of the Second World War and intent on healing the wounds wrought by it, it was tasked to become the primary agency in defining and advancing human rights. From then on, various other agencies were created, addressing specific human rights concerns. Notable examples of this are the International Labor Organization and the UNICEF. However, despite the complex structure and wo... Two good examples are the genocide in Rwanda in the early 90's, and the current conflict and suffering of people in Darfur, Sudan. There must be a mechanism to ensure that the UN will quickly respond and intervene. 2. How relevant is the experience of the concept of Europe to contemporary problems of management in international affairs Indeed, the European model has been helpful in addressing some problems in management of international affairs. However, a predominant problem in the management of international affairs is the accommodation of diversity and pluralism that certainly cannot be addressed solely by reliance on an intrinsically homogeneous model. Even on the issue of human rights, there are conflicting paradigms. The universality of human rights has oftentimes been challenged by critics on the allegation that the Western bias is very much evident, and that the popularity of it in recent times is nothing more than the remnants of a neocolonial attitude purveyed by the crafty and bought by the undiscerning. A refutation of this was attempted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1968 through a study that demonstrated that "the profound aspirations underlying human rights correspond to concepts - the concepts of justice, an individual's integrity and dignity, fre edom from oppression and persecution, and individual participation in collective endeavors - that are encountered in all civilizations and periods." Some Islamic scholars like Safi (2000, page 1) remain unconvinced: The pragmatic arguments for the universality of human rights are problematic, because they either completely overlook the significant impact cultural