John Clare in the Telegraph records yet another extraordinary development in the de-education of Britain. The GCSE science curriculum, studied by all pupils from 14 to 16, will no longer have much science in it. Instead, according to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, pupils will be taught about science, as well as being fed straight propaganda. Thus:

'Instead of learning science, pupils will "learn about the way science and scientists work within society". They will "develop their ability to relate their understanding of science to their own and others' decisions about lifestyles", the QCA said. They will be taught to consider how and why decisions about science and technology are made, including those that raise ethical issues, and about the "social, economic and environmental effects of such decisions".

'They will learn to "question scientific information or ideas" and be taught that "uncertainties in scientific knowledge and ideas change over time", and "there are some questions that science cannot answer, and some that science cannot address". Science content of the curriculum will be kept "lite". Under "energy and electricity", pupils will be taught that "energy transfers can be measured and their efficiency calculated, which is important in considering the economic costs and environmental effects of energy use".'

Anyone who hasn't closely followed the collapse of British education over the past few years might well refuse to believe all this. Instead of being given the knowledge to enable them to understand science, to decipher how scientific processes work and even to become scientists themselves, pupils are to be taught instead about the effects of science on society -- and from an ideologically correct position. In other words, science education is simply being emptied of content.

The implications for individuals and for Britain are of course astounding. Nor is science alone in this. Maths, history, geography, all have been progressively emptied of content over the years and been replaced by spoon-fed propaganda. Foreign languages, whose teaching was emasculated by the ideological animus against formal grammar, have all but disappeared from many schools altogether after the government weakened their compulsory element.

The reason given for the change to the science curriculum is to make science 'relevant to the 21st century'. This is in accordance with the government's doctrine of 'personalised learning', which means that everything that is taught must be 'relevant' to the individual child. This philosophy, of course, destroys the very basis of education which is all about exposing a child to what he or she does not already know. 'Personalised' or 'relevant' education implicitly means that the child does not progress from the level at which he or she starts.

Once again, one has to ask the key question about this government. Are they mad or bad? Stupid or evil? Do they really have no understanding of what they are doing -- or are they following a programme to destroy the very basis of this society?