The problem is fairly simple. We’ve teamed up children from single parent households with teachers that never learn how to behaviour manage. A generation of poorly behaved kids, with parents who didn’t learn a thing, taught by 25 year olds who are scared of them.

It’s because we constantly have to deal with ‘the message’ in school. People don’t even learn how to pronounce English correctly and the popular culture doesn’t help matters by celebrating people who likewise cannot pronounce many English words correctly and have appalling grammar and diction even those from private schools now.

The biggest problem in education isn't the shutting of grammar schools it is the acceptance of poor attitudes and behaviour.

The biggest problem that faces any reform in education is that of the teaching staff. I am a teacher in his late fifties and I can say with confidence that the majority of my colleagues under the age of forty are so indoctrinated in left-wing ideology that even if you reformed the system, those within it would not only fail to implement it, but would also do everything to undermine it.

It's my firm opinion that good teachers teach students HOW to think, not WHAT to think. As we all know, that is a big part of the problem in not just the UK but in many Western Countries.

The closing of the Grammars was the destruction of meritocracy.

I'm convinced that the dumbing down in our education system, and almost everywhere in culture /entertainment is by design. I may be wrong, but it's what I truly believe.

Taught what to think, not how to think. Or brainwash.

I home school my daughter and she is THRIVING. I would never put my child in school. Prehistoric system, at best.

Totally agree with Mr. Hutchins. This dumbing down is everywhere not just the U.K. The question is…. WHO exactly is orchestrating this decline and WHY ????

Just walk around a school and see the drivel of pupil’s work the teachers put up on the walls to see how far standards have fallen.

This is a very interesting conversation. I know that schools (especially the public schools) in the USA have been increasingly dumbed down for the past 5 or 6 decades at least, and now they don't teach many facts, mostly opinions and feelings and how to be a socio-political activist. Dissenting opinions are systematically and vigorously punished and silenced at all levels of school now (including colleges and universities). I wasn't aware that this is also happening in England. That's a shame. Which countries still have academically rigorous classical education for the masses?

Can't wait for Peter Hitchens' new book! Also, he is absolutely correct about foreign languages. I remember teaching myself French conjugations, for example, and it has stood me in good stead for any other language I have pursued.

There's an old rule you don't discuss religion or politics. Well why not? Dissenters are thought to be rocking the boat. But if you can't discuss something it suggests freedom of speech is being shut down. Only those with something to hide would do this.

I am no fan of Hitchens but I totally agree with his view on the current state of secondry education however, it goes beyond that to the vast expansion in university education which has also led to a complete devaluation of the value of degees generally. When 50% of young people have a degree (however trivial the subject) then an employer who wants people to flip burgers is going to demand that candidates have a degree which strangely has the effect of worsening the circumstances of those who don't have one. I suspect that this situation is all too common across the Western economies. With regard to British Grammar Schools, which I attended, yes they were a brilliant thing of their time and social environment. However, what made them work back then was working class parents saw them as a route by which their children would have a better life than them through education and opportunities and as a result pushed their children to achieve. That probably illuminates the main problem that teachers will tell you about in education today, an almost total lack of parental involvement in their childrens education and behaviour both in and outside school.

Peter Hitchesn should talk about Technical education which in Britain compaares badly with other European countries ! He needs to look at this enormous failure in Britain!

Mr. Hitchens' recollection of a moment of pure joy at 5:05 is just wonderful. I read and watch as many of his works as I can find the time to and always find then insightful. He may very well disagree with this, and I may be well off the mark, but he increasingly reminds me of an Old Testament prophet - speaking a truth that most, to their peril, ignore. If he ever came to my area of Canada for any speaking engagement, I would love to attend.

I saw these attitudes at University. Modern students eschew classical standards and only want to argue, assert and avoid when it comes to their socio-political ideas and their 'opponents' views. Truth, beauty, knowledge and discipline are virtues the modern student must deny because they cannot surmount the challenge of their own intellectual awakening. Rather than try to climb any one of these mountains, the modern 'academic' makes a project out of smashing the mountain, therefore justifying their vandalism as some form of emancipation from classical ideals and goals they deem 'regressive', 'classist', 'patriarchal' or 'bourgeois'.

I coincidentally learnt a few days ago that the term "grammar school" refers to the medaeval Trivium: Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic, which in turn is the foundation for a humanistic Studium. Since study is nothing other than the rigorous pursuit of a facultative intellectual curiosity, it's only right that school life provides training for this, and in the way that Hitchens outlines.

Write a dissenting comment on Facebook and here on KZfaq and get evidence for Mr Hitchens's hypothesis literally spelt out before your eyes.

The education system, media, government policy and even companies are going hand in hand. Hopeless situation. I believe Hitchens lost all hope and he is right because there isn't any. I predicted this since the 1990s (Blair era) but everybody seemed happy with the changes taking place. Sad .. and now hopeless

I went to a Grammar school. Hitchens is absolutely right in my opinion.

What holds schools back are a few things 1. Less parents at home during the child's earlier years educating them in the foundations (because they are working), this leads to children without proper foundations when they start school and even SEN disabilities from slow starts. 2. Fewer teachers and TAs properly trained in how to handle disruptive, SEN children who unfortunately are not able to get into the limited SEN schools leading to disruption of other schools and children's education. 3. An ineffective curriculum which tries to teach too much in too little time, when focus on core subjects is all that's necessary. 4. Political dogmatic teaching, most teaching focuses on literature or poems which are political or dark (such and such is depressed/suicidal - I have read this in primary school texts being taught), when they should be positive and neutral or old as few places teach Dickens or Agatha Christie or Jane Austin (reading this would teach good prose) etc. 5. Lack of discipline; children may respect parents but not educators and you just need a handful who lack respect for an entire class to fall into ruin. (If parents wish to continue this trend traditional methods of ensuring discipline might need to return). 6. Parents are failing to keep sick children off from school, leading to teachers and TAs and other children becoming sick. 7. Parents are failing to apply nutritional meal planning to children, this might seem odd to the reader but I specialised in food psychology, educational psychology, sporting psychology and high performance coaching as well as work as an English teacher. I see children who at lunch time have a lunchbox with just chocolate and sweets, no fruits, no sandwiches, no balanced low GI food which could improve a child's learning performance. Knowledge which older generations took for granted. - - - So what are we missing in summary a) home schooling from a younger age. b) education on discipline and respecting others, c) course content being focused, taught for appropriate intervals and with positive, neutral material, d) discipline options or behavioural effective management available to teachers beyond praising children - actual effective methods. e) a stay at home parent to adequately look after children including nutritional planning as being a parent is a really hard job, harder then anything salaried as it is also voluntary and good results are not made through divided attentions. f) effective ways to integrate overseas children for whom English is a 2nd or 3rd language and they struggle g) having adequate resources so that SEN children can receive separate, targeted education effective to their level where they are not disrupting other children. We really need to see the problems for what they are and not shy from something because someone gets upset to say their child needs special help or is the problem and instead implement solutions. or, if we are happy to leave this as a teacher problem to solve, pay them double the average salary so that they feel it is worth sticking at the job - a teacher should be on 60k a year.

Most of the previous scientists were in more than one field because the methodology of educational attainment was strong and tidy, and now it is like taking a flower from every orchard without real quality.

IMO The tory doctrine of parental choice was supposed to make parents want to fight to raise the standards at the school they chose - instead it facilitated the flight of aspirational parents.

The role of State schools is not to educate but to pursue the hidden curriculum of ensuring the masses accept a subservient role in a power regime that can be complained about but not changed, whilst allowing a few through to manage but not change the status quo. As such, it works well - unfortunately.

I blame the loss of 'rigour' in our education system for the standard of politicians that the UK has had to endure over the last 30 years or so.

I would also like to see a more critical look at the history in textbooks because in the US there are lot of historical errors in both history and history of science text books.

My old run down comprehensive school is now up the top of the league table and exclusively Asian.

Grammars were unpopular because as is the case now, parents would send children to private schools and then get them into grammar schools because they were free private schools. Limiting the positions for actual poor kids defeating the point of the schools.

In an apocryphal tale of the first meeting between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, "Hepburn said, "I fear I may be too tall for you, Mr. Tracy" or possibly "You know, Mr. Tracy, I'm afraid I'm a bit too tall for you." In one version, Tracy supposedly replied, "Don't worry, I'll cut you down to my size." In another, Joseph L. Mankiewicz reportedly said, "Don't worry, Kate, he'll cut you down to size."" My point is not whether the conversation actually took place, but that it illustrates the tear-education-down-to-Grade-5-level that has been perpetrated in the cause of soothing envious feelings. The bulldozing of the playing field has culminated in SoShall JustUs WokeryPokery, but, imo, the degradation began with "every opinion counts".

The problem with grammar schools is that they discriminated against children from disadvantaged families, and late developers. Posh families can afford to give their children a richer environment in terms of stimuli such as music and language lessons. Late developers include children born during the summer holiday who are a year younger than the oldest students in their class. At that age a year makes a huge difference. I was born in July and considered dim by my teachers when I was 11, I went on to get top A levels, a first in physics and a PhD from Cambridge. Whilst I agree that subjects have been dumbed down over the last 50 years, I disagree that foreign languages require rigorous learning of grammar. I have met countless people with good exam grades in a foreign language who cannot speak it. The aim must be to develop speaking and listening skills as per the Dutch system for example. (How come grammer schools never came anywhere near matching the Dutch success in languages?) I think one of the biggest criticism of schools is that a huge proportion of students are indoctrinated into a simplistic woke ideology with no appreciation for the real world, and the achievements of Western civilisation. I experienced the forerunner of this in the sixties and seventies, and frankly it harmed my life. Another criticism is the size of classes, with 30 typical. A friend gave up teaching as it was crowd control. That is how it was 50 years ago too. Only when I was in a small class of ten did I take an interest in the lessons. Lastly, I do wish he would learn to articulate clearly, rather than mumbling in a rather pompous and often hard to understand voice. I don’t know why he gets so much air time, though I guess he appeals to the “It was better in my time” brigade.

The UK has a socialised health service and socialised education system both of which are of the lowest standard possible. No excellence, no world class standards.

First of all school has aways been about socialisation. The problem isn't that this is continuing it is to do with confronting the reality that a puple's school performance is a function of much more than the school and the teachers. Discussing the interwoven and complex issues which lead to puple success is beyond a comment such as this but anyone with any insight to education knows that the issues are too complex for the school and tachers to handle alone. Thereofore the the government school system they takes the eay way out which is to dilute the school and teachers' contribution to the puples' education. Don't teach the kids arithmetic tables, don't worry about spelling too much etc etc. Life will teach the kids what they need to know!!

When school leavers can turn up at university and they can't write in cursive the education system is broken. Kids are taught about the rainbow serpent but not about Sturt or Flinders. It's an appalling excuse for an education.

I went to the Queen's Boys' Secondary Modern School, Corporation Road, Wisbech, Cambs.

First I am NOT critical of grammar schools. . Whilst in general I am sympathetic to PH views on this one I am quite sure he is wrong. wrt to education I mean. In general the local concils offered to pay for grammar school places for those who 'passed' the 11 plus. Others could take an exam and pay fees to gain entry. Comprehensive schools entry was much fairer and they ought to have taught to grammar school standards ; filtering students by ability say after two years. Unfortunately what happened was the 'all must pass' outlook arrived or 'no one must fail' and as a conseqence comprehensive education was undermined. Even so the better run ones did perform quite well with entry to rigorous tertiary education. Anything goes today and the decline of the nation is clear to very many.. Not eough sadly.

Too many foreigners.

i think dont fix whats not broken and just make better with what we have

Seek and ye shall find. You can’t educate a bigot. Why is education always the key. Let’s bring it back to good parenting and a strong self drive to better yourself that is lost in an overly comfortable and sinful society. Our society misses the mark in ordering the hierarchy of goodness and therefore life is losing meaning. Even finding someone to have a good conversation with is impossible. So many people are comfortable, closed and feeble.

Always been a big fan of Peter he’s been consistently miserable

Don’t worry Peter We have Russell Brand to educate and save us now 🤦‍♂️😂😂😂😞

Once again this shows how wrong it is for us to idolise and try to emulate the USA.

I went to a nurmal skool and terned out justt as clevor as anyboby else.

Peter get your teeth seen to please, blowing my ear drums.

The biggest problem of our education system is that the state is involved. Education, like any other service (that does not rely on force - such as the military or police), should be provided by the private sector, with no state involvement whatsoever. The state should not have anything to do with something as crucial as the education of our children.

Religious studies shouldn’t be a core subject, we should be spared the musings of unbelievers that see religion instead of faith and treat it all as the same. What can a corpse tell us about how to live? Secular humanism is it’s own faith of sorts albeit hollow and this mono culture is culling others the more it’s pushed, it’s reasons to help and even tolerate others because of a hole in their heart filled with thoughts and convoluted notions.

hitchins is a classic example we teach latin and classics and the vermeer of intelligance but not logic or understanding of anything, they learn exceptionalism and there rite to rule and influance

True to current conservative ideology, no facts or insights are offered only whining and vague platitudes served in the confines of social media to an audience receptive to generic complaining. Peter is mumbling half of his empty sentences having the poor diction characteristic of elitist upper class circles always finishing their hollow phrases with mmm mm blabla well u knpw howmm it mmus bla. Tragic.

This garbled nonsense is so sad coming from Peter Hitchens. He goes to pieces on education and the motor car.

This guy needs to learn to stop mumbling. He's either too loud or too soft and it makes it too hard to follow