LD Blog

In an opinion column for the Guardian Unlimited, Elfi Pallis asks, “Should everyone stay at school?” She bases this question on her concerns about whether a recommendation about providing a common curriculum, based on the British baccalaureate, to all students&mdah;reducing tracking—would benefit students.

Not only do I have my doubt as to whether this will work, since the “bac” tends to be a far more difficult exam, requiring competence in both the humanities and the sciences, but I wonder whether leaving school at sixteen is always such a bad thing, really. Must we keep all kids in full-time education?

Ms. Pallis goes on to explain that two of her friends who left school early did so to help support disabled parents, including one whose mother had dyslexia. I’d wish for a social system that didn’t require students to leave school early to help adults with Learning Disabilities, but Ms. Pallis makes her case that sometimes school isn’t the right thing for all students. It’s a provocative question, no?

Link to Ms. Pallis’ column.