Big decisions for little people

I'm almost twenty years old and have no idea what I want to do in my life. So how do the government expect eleven year olds to do the same? Specialist schools in ten different areas of arts, business and enterprise, engineering, humanities, languages, mathematics and computing, music, science, sports and technology mean that at eleven, children will have to choose which area of education their life will have to lead.
Despite my view, there are some positives. Special Educational Needs schools give children with learning and physical disabilities the specialised support they require to gain the education they deserve.
On July 7, the Times Education Supplement reported that about �100, 000 a year extra will go to the specialist SEN schools for outreach work and to share expertise, particularly with nearby mainstream schools. These schools will not only benefit the needs of many children who cannot excel in mainstream schools but will also benefit the wider school community as a whole.
On the other hand, many schools that specialise in the ten areas have and will change their names to suit the specialism they have assumed. The professional names they have adopted give the school's title more respect. On a CV, 'Media Arts College' sounds a lot better than 'Secondary School'.
If the school is effective in their specialism then students will be aided considerably more in excelling in their chosen subject. A future scientist may be given better support in achieving their goal in a science specialist college than in a normal state comprehensive.
However, in my opinion the cons far outweigh the pros. That same future scientist may be able to excel in the subject they have chosen at aged eleven, but what if at aged sixteen or eighteen, they change their mind? They will have spent their entire secondary school career focussing the majority of their attention on one subject. Though a specialist school does have to provide a broad education on all subjects under the National Curriculum and a pupil may work just as hard in those subjects as the specialism.
But because of the specialist status the school is likely to put a lot larger sum of money into that subject. Meaning children will not be given the all round education that gives them full and fair choices at the end of it. Another problem with specialist schools is possibly that if the local secondary school specialises in one subject a children may feel put off from attending. This will pose a problem. If at eleven a child wants to be an actor or a footballer, they can attend the local media arts and sports schools. But what if you're not sure? Why would an eleven year old choose to attend a school that specialises in a subject they're not even sure they want to do yet? I don't know about anyone else, but what I wanted to do at aged eleven is far from what I wanted to do at sixteen and eighteen.When I was eleven all of the local schools were just secondary or high schools. But if now I was turning eleven I would have a choice between a science specialist school that is a five minute walk away from my house, or two arts schools that are both at least one bus ride away. With my present knowledge and thoughts on certain subjects; I would not like to attend any of these schools. So where does that leave me?
In Bolton, there are sixteen state secondary schools and fourteen of those have specialist status. Soon enough there will be no schools left that provide an equal education in all subjects and those that do will probably have pupils from miles away travelling right across town to find a school that will give an all round education.
Are we really going to subject our eleven year olds to travel a considerable distance in cramped school buses alone, just so they can get the full and fair education they deserve? Or maybe we'll just force them to attend the local science specialist school in the hope that they might take a liking of science before they turn sixteen.

Author: Fiona Bond
Bolton iJourno group