One of the worst aspects of the previous administration to my mind was the fact that during their tenure the word "Education" dropped silently out of the Whitehall lexicon. There was not a single department of state with the word "education" in its title. Instead we had the "Department for Children, Schools and Families". An absurd title that was redolent of the Stalinist social engineering proclivities of the then government. The assumption underlying this being that the sole purpose of education was to provide fodder for the employment market. No mention of enlightenment, the civilising effects of education or the sheer joy of learning.
Now under the LibCon coalition Education has made a comeback. The department has been renamed to what it should be - the "Department for Education". This simple change says more than anything about the future direction of government. It signals real hope for a new order that sweeps aside the Victorian politics that was fine when Britain ruled the World but is totally out of place in the 21st Century. I am so glad things are changing and I sincerely hope that the naysayers are completely and utterly wrong about the new government.
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