Getty ImagesChildren are being taught how to budget and how loans work as the government seeks to modernize the national curriculum in England’s schools.
They will also be taught how to spot fake news and disinformation, including AI-generated content, following the first review of what has been taught in schools for more than a decade.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government wants “the curriculum but maintain a “strong foundation” in basics such as English, maths and reading.
Headteachers said the review’s recommendations were “sensible” but needed “adequate funding and teachers”.
The government commissioned a review of the National Curriculum and assessments in England last year, in the hope of developing a curriculum that “cuts the gap between the most disadvantaged students and their classmates.
It is said to be carrying out many of the review’s recommendations, including scrapping the English baccalaureate (Ebacc), an improvement measure for schools introduced in 2010.
It evaluates schools based on how many students take English, maths, science, geography or history and a language.
The Department for Education (DFE) said that Ebacc was “restricting”, and that it had taken a number of reforms, the development of a wider range of GCSE subjects.
The former Conservative schools minister, Nick Gibb, said the decision to scrap the eBacc “will lead to a significant reduction in private schools and” children of middle-class parents who can afford them.
Other reforms that will come as a result of the curriculum review include:
- Financial literature taught in math classes, or compulsory citizenship lessons in Primary schools
- More focused on focusing on misinformation and disinformation – including exploring a new post-16 qualification in Data Science and AI
- The cut-off time spent on GCSE exams is up to three hours for each student on average
- Make sure all kids can get the three science gucses
- More climate change content
- Good representation of diversity
The review also recommends giving oays the same status in the curriculum as reading and writing, which is an important children with “listening skills.
However, the government did not take all the recommendations of the review.
This is pushing ahead with reading tests for year 8 students Reported in Septemberwhile reviewing recommended compulsory English and maths tests for that year group.
Asked why he stopped taking the assessment recommendation, Phillipson told the BBC that students who can’t read “always” struggle in other subjects.
And he addressed claims that scrapping the eBacc could lead to fewer students taking history, geography and languages at GCSE, which would improve results “or “improve language learning”.
“I want young people to have a good choice, including subjects like art and music and sport. And I know that’s what parents want,” he said.
He said that the ministers recognized the “need to implement it carefully, thoroughly and with good notice”, adding that schools have four terms before they are expected to teach the new curriculum.
Prof Becky Francis, who led the review, said her panel of experts and the government had both identified a “problem” students were experiencing in the early years of secondary school.
“When young people progress from primary to secondary school, typically this is a time when their learning can start falling behind, and that’s particularly the case for kids from socially disadvantaged backgrounds,” she told the BBC.
He said the review process was “evolution not revolution”, with students in England doing well against international averages.
He said that the call for more representation of diversity in the curriculum is not about “getting rid of things” more about encouraging our culture, as well as sharing in the progress of science and culture.
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said the changes would “leave children with a weaker understanding of our national story and hide patterns that close schools”.
“Educational research is the lasting legacy of the Prime Minister and Bridget Phillipson,” he added.
Pepe Di’iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says that the review proposes “a rational, evidence-based set of reforms”.
But he said that delivering a “great curriculum” also required “adequate funding and teachers”, adding that schools and colleges do not currently have all the resources they need.
He said a set of “development benchmarks” – which the government says will give students access to civic, artistic and cultural participation, announced by many schools that have been judged “.
Additional Reporting by Hope Rhodes