Latin to be offered to state school pupils to make the UK even more out-of-touch
Wearing the dunce’s cap yet again: but should Gavin Williamson get all the blame for wanting to inflict Latin on our unsuspecting sprogs? I suspect this is another daft demand from Boris Johnson and Williamson, being a dimwitted yes-man, is just pushing it through.
It is as though Gavin Williamson actually sat in the Department for Education, thinking: “I can’t screw up exams this year; how else can I bugger up state school kids?”
Here’s what he came up with:
Latin lessons are to be offered to thousands of state school pupils in England as part of an effort by the Department for Education to make the language less “elitist”.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said a new programme would ensure the subject was not “for the privileged few”.
A £4 million Latin Excellence Programme will see the ancient language offered to 40 state schools in England as part of a four-year pilot, according to The Daily Telegraph.
It makes a perverse kind of sense: having killed the economy with Brexit and enormous numbers of the population with Covid-19, the Tories now want us all to learn a dead language.
It’s not as if there aren’t plenty of other things to which Williamson could be devoting his time – as the Twitter community was quick to point out:
Employers “There are not enough young people with strong Computer Science degrees, especially cyber security”
Gavin Williamson “Hold my beer…” https://t.co/W2TQiDkE3g
— Matt Doble (@MattDoble89) July 31, 2021
Gavin Williamson pic.twitter.com/wUdEJytNNB
— Heather (@_hthr_) July 31, 2021
Very good point. Why not learn Norman French or, if you really want to understand the roots of modern northen European languages, Frisian.
— Glyn Hughes (@SquashedBox) July 31, 2021
I read that Gavin Williamson wants to introduce Latin, when I'd have thought that teaching pupils about equality, fairness and budgeting would be a better use of teachers time.
— 🔶Jonathan Banks🔶 (@Jonathan_MBanks) July 31, 2021
If my kids want to learn latin, I'll give them an Asterix book.
It is a dead language Gavin Williamson, you stupid boy, the only reason it's elitist is because the elite can afford to waste time learning it.
Deal with the Covid crisis in schools, now is the perfect time to do so. pic.twitter.com/jyg5zSOCuQ— Damien Willey 🟢 🔴 (@KernowDamo) July 31, 2021
So Gavin Williamson wants Latin to be taught in state schools. Improving mental health services for young people would be a better option but I don’t think he’s considered that.
— Jess (@rowlands7_jess) July 31, 2021
Teaching Latin in state schools "to help pupils learn modern languages" – a typically dimwit wheeze from Gavin Williamson.
The best way to help children learn modern languages is to teach these more & better.
Compulsory Latin is likely to put them off languages for life. pic.twitter.com/JMclqfRats
— Tom Scott 🇺🇦 (@Tom___Scott) July 31, 2021
All good points as I’m sure you’ll agree.
Other commenters have taken glee in pointing out that Williamson has, yet again, drawn attention to his own shortcomings:
Gavin Williamson is inspiring in that he shows absolutely anyone can become a Government Minister.
— Bob Morgan 🇺🇦 💙 (@Bbmorg) July 31, 2021
Congratulations to Gavin Williamson for the foresight of seeing that German, French, Spanish et al will become redundant now we're out of the EU and planning for our closer ties with Latinarnia 👏👏👏
— AViD 💙 (@AViDRambler) July 31, 2021
BREAKING : School children rejoice at discovery learning to say “Gavin Williamson” in Latin is easy pic.twitter.com/l21yFc0rCD
— LCD Views (@LcdViews) July 31, 2021
I’m sure nobody would want to argue with that!
Source: Latin to be offered to state school pupils to make subject less ‘elitist’ | The Independent
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Next time you meet a Tory voter, remind them, “Caveat emptor.”
I went to a state grammar school in the 1960s and we were all forced to learn Latin. I hated it, and it’s never been of any use to me. It would be of much more use to offer extra European languages (assuming schools already teach French) such as Spanish, German or Italian.
I learnt latin in the 60’s/early 70’s, I also studied French at the same time. I am sure that my Latin helped me( after I left school) with French, Spanish and Italian, however learning la plume de ma tante est bleu gave me no ability to interact with the French whatsoever! Foreign language teaching in the UK needs to be totally overhauled and focused on basic understanding of spoken and written language and the ability to communicate orally.
As someone who had Latin foisted on them for 1 year, hated every minute of it and failed every test/exam, I still think that there is a place for it in some circumstances, as long as it is not compulsory. Most modern European languages have some basis in Latin. For pupils, probably very thin on the ground, who really want to go on and study languages, rather than pick up a bit of Spanish for their holidays on the costas, it does give a broad starting point.
Having said that, the costs of having to offer Latin to that select few should make it a very low priority under the current educational circumstances. As folk have said, there are much better options for the cash.