Teachers up to the test

It seems sadly unsurprising that there is (“Know time to waste”, HS, 23/8) in ensuring young students are proficient in English and maths, not just in Victoria, but nationwide.

That an “urgent blitz” is needed in our education system is a tragic understatement, considering previous Herald Sun articles have reported trainee teachers are also failing literacy and numeracy tests.

Indeed, when I studied secondary school teaching more than 30 years ago, I was shocked to realise many students could not read from a textbook in my Year 10 history class.

How could they be at that level of schooling without basic literacy skills?

Attending primary school in the mid-1950s, if kids were incompetent in the 3Rs, they had to repeat the year to achieve satisfying outcomes.

Maybe the “time” has come to reinstate that practice so at least kids can read and write before entering high school; let alone university to become teachers themselves!