GCSE exam target in UK | private schools in bad shape
340,000 miss GCSE exam target in UK
London, Jan 15: More than 340,000 children in England missed the government's
target of achieving five good GCSE passes including English and Maths this
summer, according to data published on Wednesday. And at one in seven schools,
less than 30 per cent of pupils managed the exam target. But the number
of these poorly performing schools fell to 440 from more than 630 last
year. Children's Secretary Ed Balls said that meant the government was on
track to meet its "National Challenge" goal of having no schools below the 30
per cent threshold by the end of 2011. "We are putting in the extra
resources to help heads reach this and local authorities will shortly be
announcing their plans to make sure all schools reach this target by 2011," he
said. But the Conservatives said too many children were still being
educated at failing schools. "Ministers are failing to deliver their
promises on education," said Conservative Shadow Children's Secretary Michael
Gove. The statistics were released a day before the publication of school
league tables showing their performance in GCSE and A-level exams. Reuters
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Islamabad private schools in bad shape
Islamabad: For the last few years, the federal capital has witnessed
mushroom growth of private schools. Majority of private schools is being
operated in smaller places thus adding to the plight of children. It has
been observed that students of these institutions are losing their mental growth
owing to limited space, as mostly the private schools comprise of two to four
small rooms only. Despite being well aware of the matter, the authorities are
paying no heed towards this important public issue. Establishing private schools
have become a quite profitable business. During visits to different schools it was also learnt, that many schools were
being run in the Capital without getting registration from Federal Board. When
contacted, President of Private School Association (Islamabad) Chaudhry Ubaid
said that there were over six hundreds schools operating in the Capital. He
admitted that mostly school comprises of only to 4 to 5 'Marlas' space. However,
he said that his association was trying to acquire lands from CDA and also
trying to register all non-register private schools in the Capital. It was
also observed that majority of private schools were situated besides the main
roads of Islamabad, which are creating hurdles in smooth flow of traffic.
"Children studying in these schools have no proper facility for mental growth.
Without play grounds and healthy educational environment children cannot get
education according to international standards, despite paying hefty money in
the name of fees," said Shafiq Khan, residents of G/6 Islamabad. Senator
Tahira Latif, Chairperson All Pakistan Private Schools Association said that
private schools should be constructed on an area of two or three kanals.
Unfortunately private schools do not meet any kind of standards, she
added. Shaista Naz said, "Private schools have
become a profitable business and many business men running schools without
fulfilling any criteria. She alleged that the owners of the school with the
connivance of the authorities concerned are playing with the future of the young
generation. Ramzan Ali, a social worker was of the view, "Pakistan has a
poor educational system. Government should take immediate action against such
private schools as they are only minting money from poor public." The Nation
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