‘Absurd’ English language is a hindrance to children’s progress

FOR decades, politicians of the right have criticised our schools for failing working class children, and have cited this failure as a hindrance to “social mobility” - which boils down to escaping the quagmire of deprived areas (where, presumably, as far as the Tories care, those without ambition and certificates can continue to flounder).

They have blamed the comprehensive system and poor or demotivated teachers.

The left have countered with arguments about large class sizes, stressed teachers and underfunding. Many studies suggest that British children are under-achieving in comparison to children abroad.

To my mind, the main problem is so glaringly obvious that we fail to see it: bough, tough, bought, though, cough. Is it any surprise, given the inconsistency of English spelling, that many children label themselves, or worse, are labelled failures - when they struggle to write accurately and read fluently?

English infants spend many hours struggling with lists of words which are exceptions to rules while their German counterparts are forging ahead, developing other skills - because German words are spelt by and large phonetically and follow consistent rules.

I have an early memory of frustration with the word “ocean” - “okeen” made no sense to me and I threw the storybook down in a temper.

Is it any wonder that many children give up at school and underachieve? Is it any wonder that our prisons are full of men and women who can barely read and write?

I believe that our absurd spelling “system” conspires with many other anachronisms - the Tory Party, elitist education, monarchism, imperialism, inappropriate and wasteful military spending, post-industrial dereliction - in preventing Britain from becoming a truly modern country,

John Payne