Your views on Blair on education

BBC education correspondent Mike Baker discussed Tony Blair's record on education 10 years after coining his mantra "education, education, education".

As usual, we invited your comments. Here is a selection from the range of views received:

I think Tony Blair should stop messing around. Us pupils do not know whether we will be taking the A-levels or the IB as he is constantly changing his mind. I think the pupils should have a say in whether we take the IB or the A-level, after all it is us who will be sitting the exams.
Walker

Imitative after initiative, target after target. Outcome confused parents and demoralised staff. Local schools are now reverted back to programmes of work that government initiatives forced them to abandon seven years ago. The initiative change weekly with some Primary Schools having received over 200 directives in the last year. Teachers' jobs are being cut because schools are spending more on administration and target reporting. The only education secretary who had any understanding of education was Ms Morris who was effectively sacked for standing up to Blair. Other education secretaries would not get an interview if the applied for a job with a school.
Paul Taylor, Ludlow - Shropshire

All children are individual so their education should be as individual as they are. Many children, including one of my own, have been failed by the government's "inclusion" policy. Their education has not been differentiated enough to ensure their needs are met in the classroom.
Wendy Farrier, Margate, Kent, UK

Since the school-leaving age was raised from 14, most of the secondary education budget has been allocated to the academic "stream" aimed at university entrance. Those who do not attain A-levels are deemed to be failures. The achievement is graduates who cannot carry on a conversation in French, have forgotten what they learned about quadratic equations, and cannot perform simple percentage problems, dislike Shakespeare, and know about the wives of Henry VIII, but have forgotten who the luddites were. Meanwhile we import from former colonies people to do ordinary jobs, and, more recently, skilled workers from former communist countries. Almost all professionals, doctors, lawyers, MPs etc come from public schools.
Léo Burton, 22220 Trédarzec, France

All very well cutting class sizes - now schools can't afford teachers. Teaching assistants are covering PPA time and being used instead of supply. How many teachers are out of work? Loads!!! Tracy
Tracy Pepler, Oxford

I am a secondary maths teacher in a department of capacity seven teachers. In the two years since I have been at the school at least 11 members of the department have left due to appalling behaviour and constant abuse (this figure excludes the constant stream of supply teachers). Four of these professionals have been formally signed off with stress (myself included). Teaching an effective lesson is literally impossible. Despite explicitly and forcefully raising my concerns with Ofsted inspectors in February, the situation was deemed "satisfactory" and all of the individual classroom teachers blamed for their "weak classroom management" by Ofsted and the senior leadership team. How is it possible to have any faith in this system?
Stephen Hewson (Dr.), Cambridge UK

Looking back it becomes self evident that the game played was a statistical one to achieve popularity from the electorate on achievement. That's why the standards were reduced so the figures looked more impressive. The outcome is a muddying of the education system. Youngsters think they are doing well but in a nutshell not. Ask the industrialists they will tell you that many are not fluent in English or maths. To cap it all apprenticeships ceased to be offered to school leavers.
David, Fareham, Hants