“Better build schoolrooms for the boy than cells and gibbets for the man” wrote Eliza Cook in 1853.  That was the easy part.  Certainly, 150 years later, we do not seem very good at running schools.

If education is about leading children into adulthood, preparing them for life, then schools should reflect the values that we would like to see in our future leaders and captains of industry.  It should be quite simple, really: reward hard work, good behaviour and achievement; punish ~ or at least, don’t reward ~ slovenliness, bad behaviour, and lack of achievement.

We measure achievement by tests and examinations.  Except, of course, we are not very good at marking examinations.  10,000 papers in this summer’s A-level examinations have had to be re-graded, too late for students who have been rejected by universities relying on the original results.  And the anecdotal stories continue about students with average grades being preferred to students with good grades.  Whether the numbers are statistically significant is debatable, but there is no doubt that they have received sufficient attention to undermine confidence.  Confusion and inconsistency seem to be the lessons of the day.

We also want a society that protects its vulnerable members, and as all children are potentially vulnerable we vet teachers to make sure they are not villains.  Admirable intention, of course, but as we approach half-term thousands of teachers are still waiting for the results of their vetting applications.  Many who have received results have disputed the findings, which suggests that we do not know whether or not some children are at risk from their protectors.  One thing we can be certain of, though: children are still at risk from bullying by other children.  That should prepare them for the workplace.

But surely we can deal properly with bad behaviour?  We expelled the two fifteen-year-old boys who made abusive and threatening phone calls to a teacher who had disciplined them.  The expulsion was overturned on appeal, however, as the school had failed to follow common sense and the law of the land in handling the affair correctly.  More concerned with technicalities, the appeals panel failed to address the real problem.   Do we want to pass into adult society individuals who practice racism and make death threats?  Returning the boys to school should not have been an option until they had undergone therapy to help with their social disorders.

The situation was not helped when the Education Secretary attempted to overturn the appeal without, unfortunately, having the benefit of the law on her side.  The real victim, the threatened teacher, is unable to work, and in the eyes of the law the two boys deserve no punishment.  “But,” said the mother of one boy, “they have said they are sorry.”  Well, that’s that, then.  At least the story reflects society at large.  The appeal was orchestrated by a seasoned campaigner who had access to grant-aid money.  The school, with its overworked teachers, didn’t stand a chance.   

So if we would prepare our children for the big bad world we are certainly not fooling them with false expectations of decency, honour and justice.  But Eliza Cook would be disappointed to know that in the twenty-first century we still need to build cells for the man who has emerged from the schoolroom.