One-eight of schools ‘not meeting minimum literacy standards’
One-eighth of primary schools in Britain are failing to meet minimum government standards in literacy levels, according to new figures which suggest that less than 60 per cent of pupils can read, write and do simple numeracy tasks.
Primary school league tables published last week (December 15th) showed that a total of 1,310 schools are failing to make any progress in the standards of learning and teaching.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said: "We are taking action to end years of chronic under-performance. The seven years of primary school are key to establishing the building blocks of a child's education, particularly in reading"
He added that out of the worst schools, 150 will be selected and turned into sponsored academies or 'twinned' with better performing educational facilities.
Last years tables showed that 962 schools were below-standard levels but there was though to be a boycotting of the statistics due to an industrial dispute.
The Campaign for Real Education, an initiative to press for higher standards and more parental choice in state education, recently reported that more needs to be done to ensure that all schoolchildren are getting the same standard of education.
