Date   : Sun, 02 Apr 2006 17:17:37 +0100
From   : Andy Armstrong <andy@...>
Subject: Re: Basic & BBC Basic

On 2 Apr 2006, at 16:42, Mark Usher wrote:
> The worst things that schools do is to teach people things that
> have little relevance and that are of no use later in life.

You really think that's the worst thing schools do? And how are you  
defining utility?

I'm really glad I learnt Latin. It's had close to zero practical  
utility but it gave me the start of an intellectual toolkit that has  
turned into far more than a bit of vocabulary in a dead language.

> I can't see anything immoral about it. We are talking education for  
> life
> here, not moral values.

I'm not talking about moral education - I'm talking about the morals  
of building education around proprietary systems that are likely to  
change at the market's whim.

> I see more of a problem with sending school leavers
> out into the real world with no experience of what they will face.  
> Give them
> some of the basics that they will need later on, with tools they  
> would be
> expected to be given by employers.

So you're advocating even more training and even less education?

-- 
Andy Armstrong, hexten.net