A coalition of MPs, educationalists, entrepreneurs and teachers’ leaders has called for a Royal Commission on education to sweep away the “factory model” of teaching and learning currently taking place in schools.

The group, led by Robert Halfon, chair of the all-party Commons education select committee and David Davis MP, and includes EDUCATE Ventures’ director Professor Rose Luckin, has written to the government urging a “radical re-engineering of the classroom” with “the effective use of technology, including AI”.

The letter, originally published in the Sunday Times, 11th January 2021, is available to read here, and has declared the education system 'not fit for purpose', calling for an overhaul that would include the scrapping of GCSEs in favour of a “broad baccalaureate, incorporating academic and vocational education at age 18”.

Join us, Thursday 4th February, to find out what this means and how it can be done.

ZOOM MEETING ID: tbc...

The Zoom ID will also be emailed to the address you registered two hours before the start of the event.

AGENDA:

10:00am: Welcome from Rose Luckin, Director, EDUCATE Ventures, and Professor of Learner Centred Design, UCL, Institute of Education

10:05am: Introduction of Joint Statement on Education Reform

10:10am: Introduction of Chair/Panellists

• Lord Jim Knight, TES Global
• Sir Anthony Seldon, former Vice Chancellor, University of Buckingham
• Priya Lakhani, Founder, Century Tech
• Professor Rose Luckin, Director & Co-founder, EDUCATE/IEAIED
• Karine George, Headteacher and Schools Liaison, EDUCATE
• Margaret McCabe, CEO/Founder, Debate Mate
• Professor Simon Thompson, Head of Education Dept. Sussex University
• Nick Kind, Senior Director, Tyton Partners
• David Gallagher, Chief Executive, NCFE
• Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith, Director/Strategic Education Consultant, One Life Learning

10:15am: Discussion of key topics, the evidence for and against, and the implications

1. Scrapping exams - this starts with the scrapping of GCSEs. In their place, a broad baccalaureate is proposed, incorporating academic and vocational education at age 18
2. Personalised learning - the factory model, where each pupil advances at the same pace in every subject, regardless of ability and interest, must be swept away forever. Instead, personalised education through the use of new technology should be enabled
3. Re-engineering the classroom - the effective use of technology, including AI, can provide seamless learning between school and home
4. Leveraging AI - it is essential we understand and prepare the nation for the impending changes in our economy and society, given the future for AI and robotics

10:55am: Closing remarks

END

ABOUT:

EDUCATE is the UK's leading EdTech research accelerator, seeking to understand and develop evidence-informed ways of combining human intelligence with AI and emerging technologies, benefitting human learning. We're due to release a report on the UK education system's lessons from Covid-19. You can read about what we found here.