UK elections 2010. The people deserve more from democracy. We'll get that with a coalition government. "I don't hate democracy, just politicians" Guy Fawkes.

Friday 22 February 2013

Engineering-free zone: the UK

why should the UK let a bit of technology
get in the way of their dumbing-down of
the plebs' kids in state schools?

Now, Google give the UK a friendly kick
in the head. I wonder why all the big
software companies are all American.
hhhmmm

checkit: Press Association

..Google boss attacks UK education

Dr Eric Schmidt said Britain must drastically change its education system to avoid …

....The head of internet giant Google has attacked the British education system, warning the country risks falling behind in the digital age unless it makes drastic changes.

Dr Eric Schmidt called for a return to a "Victorian" approach bringing "art and science back together".

Addressing the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, he is expected to say something has to be done to "reignite" children's passion for science and technology.

He praised British television as a success story but warned "everything" could still go wrong.

He said: "If I may be so impolite, your track record isn't great.

"The UK is home of so many media-related inventions. You invented photography. You invented TV. You invented computers in both concept and practice. It's not widely known, but the world's first office computer was built in 1951 by Lyon's chain of tea shops. Yet today, none of the world's leading exponents in these fields are from the UK."

Giving the keynote MacTaggart Lecture, he added: "Think back to the glory days of the Victorian era. It was a time when the same people wrote poetry and built bridges."

The IT boss said the UK has seen "a drift to the humanities" and people were divided into boffins and luvvies.

He said he was "flabbergasted" that computer science was not taught as standard in UK schools, adding: "Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it's made. That is just throwing away your great computing heritage."

Dr Schmidt is the first non-broadcaster to give the landmark lecture, which is dedicated to the memory of actor and producer James MacTaggart.

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