"Perceptions" - HOMEWORK IS ONLY A WEALTH-TEST - confirmed?

 The study by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority warns ...
 ...

 The use of websites offering custom-made answers to
 coursework questions "cannot be controlled", the study says.
 ...

 Ken Boston, the QCA's chief executive, said: "In a very small
 proportion of cases there is deliberate malpractice. The
 availability of the internet is a powerful aid to learning but
 carries a new generation of risks of plagiarism."
 ...

 Parents, too, are partly blamed for the rise in cheating - though
 they may be doing so unwittingly - and need more advice about
 what they are allowed to do. One in 20 parents spoken to for the
 report admitted drafting some of their children's GCSE essays.
 ...

 The study - the biggest review yet of the role and value of
 coursework - involved interviews with students, teachers, exam
 boards and parents.
 ...

 "Coursework assignments are available on the internet at any
 level and in any subject," the report says. "Some of it is freely
 accessible, while much can be custom-made and is available for
 sale. There are at least 10 popular websites producing coursework
 from GCSE to degree level. With so much work being completed
 outside school, the use of such sites cannot be controlled."
 ...

 Exam coursework can account for 25% of the marks in many subjects
 and 60% in practical subjects, such as art and design. Its role
 came under the spotlight earlier this year when Sarah Forsyth,
 a former art teacher at Eton, appeared at an employment tribunal
 to argue that she had been ordered to write the text to accompany
 Prince Harry's Aboriginal-style paintings for his A-level art
 project.
 ...

 In the survey, students said they valued the coursework in subjects
 they enjoyed because it helped them with planning and IT skills.
 But half said the work was stressful at certain times of year with
 the bunching of deadlines.

 A further review of coursework by the QCA will be led by Sue
 Kirkham, a head teacher and this year's president of the
 Secondary Heads' Association.

 · The QCA report included a survey of 400 parents by the
 pollsters Mori, postal questionnaires to more than 250 schools
 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, responses from 1,700
 teachers and 460 interviews with pupils.

 Rebecca Smithers, education editor
 Tuesday November 22, 2005
 The Guardian

 http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,5500,1647955,00.html 

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 note: we've said `homework is only a wealth-test' and think
 this confirms our opinion - notice the (upper-class) need
 to keep "course-work". Why? Because it gives upper-class
 children a huge advantage.

 Poor kids don't have PCs, don't have the internet and don't
 have supplies of stationery at home - but rich kids have all
 those things.

 Above all, due to UK's past corrupt education system, poor
 kids don't have parents with abilities to "help" their
 work at home.

 N.b. check the "royal" cheating reference - the rich have
 _no_ morals about cheating. Why? Because they're terrified
 of fair assessments.

 see http://www.perceptions.couk.com/ed2.html for details
 of regular cheating by elite schools (and exam boards?)
 to advantage the rich.  

 ---

 evidence file for
 http://www.perceptions.couk.com/ed3.html

 a footnote to controversial page on UK education
 "Schools for Slaves" (Google) or at
 http://www.perceptions.couk.com/schools.html

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              FURTHER REFERENCES

  GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE


file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/ed3lies.txt