Money, School and Red-Tape: Education for Kids in Hull (2/2) By Margaret Ryan

(1/2), (2/2).

I am confident, however, that one notion can improve education in Hull. Money. All £180m of it. A vast and necessary investment, the BSF money is a massive physical approbation for the people of Hull. Politically and culturally, such immense investment in Hull is going to increase our magnitude on the cultural map. This financial backing is going to grant us the collective confidence to take greater pride in our city - as sure as fiscal deprivation has damaged our communal esteem, wouldn't you agree?

Of course, it should be said that creating beautiful and extensively equipped school buildings would not change the education system immediately. A reputable school environment, however, has a remarkable effect. You can see this effect documented on a nationwide scale if we consider Blair's school academies, schools built with state of the art architecture and equipment. Broadly speaking, academies have been lambasted in areas that are affluent, but praised in areas of deprivation. For example, in March The Guardian said that More than half the government's flagship city academies are today listed among the worst schools in the country in new league tables, despite some year-on-year improvement in their pupils' performance in the core subjects in national tests. In the same month however, the School's Minister Andrew Adonis has affirmed that Ofsted reports show academies have done an excellent job in a very short time to turn around a history of educational failure in some of the most deprived areas in the country. He said this in The Guardian.

Free-thinking can also, however, inspire civil violence, terrorism and hatred. Free-thinking can also negate shared rationality and incite mass murder in Jones-Town. Free-thinking means that I do not have to listen to my family, my friends, or my colleagues before I make a personal decision. This is not an education for children.

Instead, the most important function for schools is to make children appropriate for society. What does that mean? Firstly they make people able to count, and able to write. The moral education? That is an uneasy and unquantifiable afterthought. But in order to make people better able to read and write, contemporary education must acknowledge the aspect of moral education. So with our liberal education, we must brace ourselves for the distinct possibility that the BSF investment will not show an immediate difference. And that because of this, Hull will be initially criticised - Cynical Daily Mailers and Lazy Social Commentators will be temporarily vindicated. But the BSF's economic investment over time will overcome the apathy and anger of the uneducated, regardless of Hull's recent history and homogenous anti-education group-think. It must.

Opinions - Response To Arts Council Article By The Grim Reaper
	We can guess it's a guy that wrote the anonymous letter regarding Lou Duffy Howard receiving money from the Arts Council for the Grassroots festival. As a matter of fact Duffy Howard and 'Full Flava' David Okwesia set up the Grassroots thing and we all work together in making it happen to benefit the local community. So to whoever wrote the letter I would just like to say Read more...

Opinions - Fickle Voters By Mark Pollard

	I watched a TV programme the other night about the seemingly endless, unaccounted and under-investigated murder of scores of young women by street gangs in Guatemala. As a father of three girls myself it was heart-breaking stuff that made me thankful to live in the UK; the 'scandal' of John Prescott shagging his secretary hardly seems to matter by comparison. Read more...

Opinions - If The Council Won't Sort This Out, We Will By Pete Stitt
	I felt it was only fair to give the readers of thisisull an update of non-events since the issue of Arts Council grants, Council and other funding for multicultural events was raised by one anonymous writer and half of the Kurdish community in Hull. I think we have waited long enough for 'stage two' of this saga. I sent several emails to Ken Branson, who I know to be an honourable man, and he Read more...

Opinions - Blair Is No Churchillian Statesman By David Sloan
	Every day now we read more and more New Labour sleaze stories. Cash for knighthoods, offshore accounts for ministers, weapons of mass destruction which never existed to name but a few. I could go on with tough on crime, and the causes of crime. When magistrates have now been told not to even jail offenders. You can rob, rape or kill by dangerous driving and expect no Read more...

Opinions - Hull City Council 2006 - Changing Or Caging Us? By Margaret Ryan
	Hull City Council is changing. Having recently improved its rating infinity percent -from zero stars to one star - a new council seems to be evolving. Into what, you may ask? An aggressive political powerhouse to empower the people? Or an experiment of existential dustbin policy? Whatever this nameless Hullian perceives the council's policies to be, recent history says one thing is Read more...

Opinions - Wanadoo Offers Schadenfreude at 10p a minute By Margaret Ryan
	Do you find junk mail bellicose nonsense? Same here. Amusing? At times, yes. Annoying? Always, I agree. So are you yet to experience the silent delight of receiving Wanadoo's broadband advertisement through your letterbox? Do you want to know how junk mail could make you smile? Read on. An established internet company, Wanadoo proclaim Read more...

Opinions - Response To Criticism Of The Night Shift And The Hull Blokes By Ian Ahmed Newton
	Regarding Steven Greendale's criticism of the Hull Blokes which I understand included some comments about one of my books, The Night Shift. I would say to Mr Greendale, that if you live in Hull, we have enough people outside this city who like to take a knock at those who are trying to promote the city. I also believe that we have many in power within this city who have also done little Read more...

Opinions - Response To Arts Council Article - People Rewriting Our History In Their Own Image By Pete Stitt
	I would like to thank the Editor of Hami Kurd magazine for waking me from a sort of self-imposed coma this week. I had walked away from the local asylum situation, completely disillusioned, as loads of middle class white (and ethnic minority) English individuals and organisations came flooding into the 'industry' when it became clear there were funding opportunities. Read more...

Opinions - Praise For Ian Newton's The Night Shift By Andy Brown
	I am formerly from Hull and my daughter still lives there. I keep up with events going on with help of your website. It's great. I saw that stuff about The Night Shift book by Ian Newton. My daughter sent me a copy for Christmas and all I can say is that this book almost gave me a hernia with laughter. I have never read a book so funny and so spot on about working night shifts. Read more...

Opinions - In response to Joe Hakim's Opinion: The King is Dead ... Again. By Kay
	Well, this post reminded me of a railway station at midnight, where the only inhabitants are drunken tramps spitting out a string of semi-coherent invective. I really don't see how you can criticise anyone else Joe, when you come off sounding like an unbalanced style-less dumbfuck. I bet your keyboard took a hammering there as you released your ultimate weapon . . . Read more...

Opinions - Response To Steven Greendale's Article By Mark Pollard
	To Steven Greendale: You're a bright lad, aren't you? Firstly, you accuse Anthony Newlyne of taking a poke at Ian Newton's book The Night Shift, when Newlyne's enjoyment of and respect for Newton's work is made quite clear despite the article being somewhat ironic in parts. How could you not have understood this, Mr Greendale? Can't you read properly? Secondly, you have a Read more...

Opinions - The King Is Dead...Again By Joe Hakim
	Well, I've just read Steve Regan's latest column, and I'm glad to see that the old cigar-chomping fuckwit hasn't let me down. I can still remember seeing his mug leering out from the top of his shitty sub-Gary Bushell column in the Hull Daily Mail, and by the look of it he hasn't managed to land his dream job as a Sun hack, but then again, even people who write for the tabloids need Read more...

Opinions - Hull By Wesy G

	Over the years, my experience of Hull has been limited to 80 minute slots of rugby or trips through to the P & O dock. Until recently. Via my job I have been working in East Hull for several months and have been surprised, disappointed, fulfilled and benefited in equal measure. Yes, the stereotypes of Hullers being cynical, defensive etc often hold true but to be honest Read more...

Opinions - Response To Steven Greendale's Article By Andrew Hampel
	Hull has always been groundbreaking. From Amy Johnson and William Wilberforce to the invention of LCDs and the Venn diagram. Not to forget the first Ferro concrete bridge and public crematorium. I could go on. It is for these reasons I am always saddened that the image of Hull often promoted by those from outside and even worse, inside the city, is Read more...

Opinions - Three Piece Bands By Rob Aarosin

	I thought I would send some feedback about an old article which I stumbled on whilst looking round your site. It relates to Nick Quantrill's Pave - Linnet and Lark 05 February 2004 music/pavenicklinet.html review (yes I know its old but I really thought I should comment on what was said), especially the part where he claimed there were/are not really any Read more...

Opinions - Hull By Maolsheachlann O' Ceallaigh

	Hello Hullizens! I'm a 28-year-old chap from Dublin who has kind of adopted your native city. Never went abroad in my life before last year, then I went to London, Brighton, Doncaster, Sheffield and Hull. And Hull was my favourite! By far. And I prefer it to Dublin, too. Dublin is too big. I like the Yorkshire accent and the people are friendly, the streets are tidy and Read more...

Opinions - Steve Regan 'The King of Hull' Column By Mark Pollard

	I'm just wondering why Steve Regan is being given exposure by thisisull.com. It's something I've been pondering for a while, but his recent piece on the way our brave boys... in Iraq have been so badly treated by the white feather press (i.e. The Guardian), and which included disparaging references to hand-wringing liberals finally confirmed my concerns at Read more...

Opinions - Hull's Music Scene Gets Screwed By The Arts Council ... Again By Anonymous

I opened a local newspaper today to be greeted by an article congratulating Duffy- Howard Productions on receiving an Arts Council grant for £34,006. This is purely for the Grassroots festival, a 2-day event taking place in August. The Arts Council had given grants to only three Hull organisations, and Grassroots got the lion's share, the others being granted only £1,020 and £4,493 each. The newspaper says that the aim of Read more...

Opinions - Is the Hull Music Scene Dying? By Anonymous

	My argument is about how bad the indie scene in hull is getting. First of all, Indie? Where did the term indie come from? As you can remember Indie is short for Independent, which means a band on an independent label. But since Oasis, Blur and The Verve became big then every band eventually had that Brit pop sound which is decribed as Indie. Obviously it has Read more...

Opinions - Intolerance By Lee Cassanell

	Something is rotten in the state of Denmark according to a twisted branch of the Muslim tree, and whereas the rest of the sane world is astounded and disgusted by the ludicrous invention that is Microwavable Bacon, the Muslims have a bee in their burkas about a few pictures of the Prophet Mohammed that were innocently printed in a Danish newspaper. So incensed Read more...