...and statistics
'The [House of Commons select] com- mittee [on education] asked the Depart- ment of Education and Science for an explanation in a report . . . showing unease about . . . Britain's educational system.
'The report [indicated] . . . a steady increase in the proportion of children achieving five or more 0 level or CSE passes . . . to . . . 74.6 per cent in 1982-83, since when there has been a slight deterioration.
'The DES . . . rejected the sugges- tion that . . . improving standards had been halted. It said the earlier improve- ments were due to the fact that more children were being entered for exams.'
(Financial Times, 27 May) Since the select committee was discus- sing the proportion of passes, the attempt to explain away the decline by talk of an earlier increase in the number of children sitting exams is a red her- ring.
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