THE headteacher of an award-winning Catholic high school in Ribble Valley has hit out at "assessment overload" in the British education system and warned of a recruitment crisis in teaching.
Anthony MacNamara, head teacher of St Augustine's RC High School, Billington, said the 25 per cent fall in trainee teacher enrolments in 2002 was a warning sign that problems of recruitment and retention in the teaching profession were not being addressed.
He spoke out at the school's celebration evening last night attended by pupils and parents, Ribble Valley Mayor Joyce Holgate, Clitheroe Mayor Mary Robinson and former pupil, footballer David Dunn.
He said: "Government proposals mean schools such as St Augustine's will be allocated less funds in future so our children will face even greater financial discrimination.
"And the fiasco over A level marking is another symptom of an educational system which is losing its coherence. How many parents want their children to be subjected year-on-year to the most overloaded and stressful assessment system in Europe?"
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