BRITAIN: "CHOICE" = ANTI-INTELLECTALISM

New Labour shares a similar concern for order, but its big idea is personalisation. It plans to 'tailor our education system to individual pupil needs', and talks up flexibility. Apparently many pupils find the 'academic track' too narrow, and schools should loosen up. If pupils were given more choices, more might stay on.

All this choice-talk sounds empowering, but what does it mean? Students are being encouraged to specialise at an early age. The result is that many are dropping a battery of key subjects at 14, such as history and modern languages. For the government, apparently, ignorance is empowerment and inclusion trumps standards. The Conservatives evidence a similar disdain for academic education. Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats all promote vocational training as an alternative for the disaffected. Teachers should expose this for what it is: giving up on those who most need schools to broaden, not narrow, their minds.

All the parties talk up choice while undermining it. Choice has no meaning if the content of education gets squeezed out. And ignorant pupils are in no position to make considered choices about their lives.

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PLAGIARISM A SYMPTOM OF EDUCATIONAL DECLINE

By Jessica Durkin

The UK Plagiarism Advisory Service recently reported that one in four British students admits to copying and pasting material from the internet then presenting it as their own. Across the Atlantic in the USA, where I am a student, internet plagiarism is even more rampant. A national survey published in Education Week asserts that 54 percent of American students admitted to internet plagiarism. This includes everything from students who copy and paste a few sentences, to those who fork over premium beer money for custom-made papers. University officials believe the rise in plagiarism is driven by the internet's accessibility. Phil Anderson, director of the honors system at Kansas State University, says: 'The internet is the main driver because it is so easy.'

However, the growth of plagiarism is not just a result of the internet, or of American students' laziness - it also comes from students' new perception of education. Most American students do not attend university to embrace knowledge; university is just a gateway to a successful career. Once an American enters high school, he or she feels pressure from parents and teachers to attend university. Students are told that college is the only way they will get a 'good' job. American university student Maureen Kellner did not feel she had a choice about whether or not to attend university: 'I went to college because I had to. There is absolutely no way I could start a career without a degree. I couldn't really care less about what I'm learning except if it has something to do with what I'm going to do later on in life.' Kellner says she memorises what she needs to know for tests in order to receive high grades, and then she forgets the material that does not involve her major. Other students also see college as a route to a job. Some do not try to perform exceptionally well in their courses; they just aim to pass in order to receive their degree. It is this that provides the market for internet plagiarism.

Searching for a term paper online is easy. Within seconds of googling 'buy term paper', hundreds of websites appear, from cheathouse.com to oppapers.com. Most websites like cheathouse.com require students to submit papers of their own in order to gain access to thousands of free papers. The website's staff reviews papers for quality, and within three to seven days, writers of 'quality' papers are given access to the site. Here they can find papers on a variety of topics, including the political system of Australia, the depiction of women in modern art, and a brief history of tattoos. However, these free papers seem to be of low quality. Sample introductions often have misspellings like 'atractive', and poor punctuation such as 'a persons surroundings'. Even if students fix spelling and grammar errors, the papers often lack a coherent thesis. An essay on Oedipus Rex on oppapers.com begins: 'Oedipus is guilty because, despite knowing the prophecy that he will commit parricide and incest, he yet kills an elderly gentleman and sleeps with an elderly women.'

Students can also pay for custom-made papers. On oppapers.com, a custom-made paper costs $3.95 a page for seven-day delivery and $8.95 a page for overnight delivery. Other sites like essaysfree.com charge $22 per page for papers delivered in seven days and $55 for 'emergency service'. Additionally, the student must pay for the paper before they see it, but some websites like perfecttermpapers.com offer unlimited free revisions.

By paying for custom papers, students ensure that professors will have a harder time tracing the paper. But in general, the internet has made it easier for professors to spot plagiarism. Dr Stephen Lambert, a writing professor at Hillsborough Community College in Florida, says that online searches take seconds, while searching through books in the library would take ages. Additionally, many schools subscribe to anti-plagiarism software such as turnitin.com. Teachers upload suspected papers on to turnitin.com, and the software searches the web, its own database of papers, and published works for signs of plagiarism.

Nonetheless, professors could perhaps avoid subscribing to such services by injecting enthusiasm into their lectures. 'If my professor is engaging, I want to learn. I put a lot of effort into those classes. However, if a professor isn't putting effort into teaching, I don't want to put too much effort into that class', said American university student Michelle Pilson.

Additionally, society needs to promote the value of learning over a degree's increased job potential. The current emphasis on careers training leads students to overlook the fact that knowledge has intrinsic value - in broadening their minds and expanding their horizons. Some students do realise this and take advantage of the opportunities that university offers. American university student Brandon Bodow commented: 'I went to college to learn and to become a better person - more educated in all facets, more experienced, and more intelligent.'

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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