ELLESMERE Port mayor Pat Merrick has condemned the prospect of a return to O-levels raised by Tory education minister Michael Gove.
The council’s opposition spokesman for children and young people, Rossmore councillor Pat Merrick reacted to the idea that GCSEs could be scrapped.
She said: “Most parents, like most teachers, look on with increasing disbelief as the Tory minister turns back the clock to the 50s and 60s.
“It’s as if the 21st century had not arrived and we’re still equipping our children and young people for a bygone age before the invention of the home computer never mind e-books and iPads.
“Michael Gove cannot foresee what changes the next half century will bring and it is not for him to condemn our children and grandchildren to the learning by rote upon which he places such a high premium.
“We are in a different age which requires different skills and not a nostalgic belief that only he knows what is good for us.
“I am very worried that this half-baked proposal will divide children at 14 into winners and losers.”
