As we know from today’s news of a primary school exams boycott, or “kids’ strike”, it’s tough being a schoolchild in Britain today. But apparently it’s also tough being a Schools Minister.
Nick Gibb, Minister of State at the Department for Education, failed a SATs grammar question for 11-year-olds on the BBC’s World at One today. Having spent all morning defending the primary school exams system – criticised by tens of thousands of parents for putting too much pressure on young children – he fell victim to the very test that has come under fire.
Listen here:
Martha Kearney: Let me give you this sentence, “I went to the cinema after I’d eaten my dinner”. Is the word “after” there being used as a subordinating conjunction or as a preposition?
Nick Gibb: Well, it’s a proposition. “After” – it’s…
MK [Laughing]: I don’t think it is…
NG: “After” is a preposition, it can be used in some contexts as a, as a, word that coordinates a subclause, but this isn’t about me, Martha…
MK: No, I think in this sentence it’s being used a subordinating conjunction!
NG: Fine. This isn’t about me. This is about ensuring that future generations of children, unlike me, incidentally, who was not taught grammar at primary school…
MK: Perhaps not!
NG: …we need to make sure that future generations are taught grammar properly.
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