[news] Bus? Pass!

[RabbieBurns]

Lad passes gruelling 'getting on bus' test ? The Register

[THERADIOTUBBY]

Just had to look this up on the main qualifications database

 

YES ITS LEGIT

 

Just look how many guided learning hours it should take to complete this unit ........

 

 

Unit details Using Public Transport

 

This unit covers using public transport to make a journey.

 

Unit reference numberF/101/4734

Unit level Entry Level

Unit sub-areas•14 Preparation for Life and Work

•14.1 Foundations for Learning and Life

Unit guided learning hours 60

Unit grading system Pass

Unit assessment methods Portfolio of Evidence

[torledo]

Bury's Youth Support Services Manager, Barbara Lewis, defended: "This certificate isn't just about getting on the bus, it's about time management, working out bus routes and for some people, travelling alone for the first time.

 

when your in a hole......keep digging.

[sparkeh]

My favourite bit:

Sadly, Bobby's younger brother Joe, 13, failed Using Public Transport (Unit 1). Bobby concluded: "Maybe he wasn't up to it."

 

[srochford]

when your in a hole......keep digging.

 

The kids who've just got this qualification may think it's a bit of a joke but for quite a lot of people it's a real achievement to be able to travel independently; getting a certificate for doing something which might seem trivial to you or me will be a real achievement for them.

[laserblazer]

My bus pass arrived yesterday. I'm just planning where to go, maybe Hereford as a starter. Only one change at Worcester.

[torledo]

The kids who've just got this qualification may think it's a bit of a joke but for quite a lot of people it's a real achievement to be able to travel independently; getting a certificate for doing something which might seem trivial to you or me will be a real achievement for them.

 

I draw a distinction between a certificate and a qualification. A qualification to me should require a bit more than just going through the motions of what's expected of most young people.

 

Bus travel is one of those things that come with experience like many life skills....i wouldn't say i considered it a trivial undertaking when i first started using the bus, we can dole out certificates for tying up shoelaces and learnign to use a knife and fork for young people to take home to mum and dad and pin up on the wall.....but then it becomes a process of dumbing down when you start down the road having exam boards recognising these 'achievements'.

 

IMHO

[torledo]

My favourite bit:

 

 

 

i suspect he may have failed the bit where your supposed to stay seated until the bus has stopped at the bus stop.........like anyone's daft enough to run the risk of missing their stop ?

 

Which part of the cert covers dealing with w***** bus drivers who interpret the 'bus stopping' buzzer to mean 'drive on' ?

[Michael]

Although some may find it funny, it is good for people who aren't confident travelling alone or indeed people with special needs travelling to their destination. It's small ideas like this that can give many people a big confidence boost - so I'm all for it

[srochford]

I draw a distinction between a certificate and a qualification. A qualification to me should require a bit more than just going through the motions of what's expected of most young people.

 

 

Do you really not understand that "most young people" does not mean "all young people"??

 

There are plenty of people for whom getting a bus on their own is a real achievement and it should be acknowledged. If you've never done it, talk to someone who deals with pupils having a variety of special needs and ask them what the phrase "independent traveller" means - it's nothing to do with students on a gap year!

[torledo]

Do you really not understand that "most young people" does not mean "all young people"??

 

There are plenty of people for whom getting a bus on their own is a real achievement and it should be acknowledged. If you've never done it, talk to someone who deals with pupils having a variety of special needs and ask them what the phrase "independent traveller" means - it's nothing to do with students on a gap year!

 

Lad receives a certificate from an examining body, you know the type that dole out GCSE grades, for undertaking in an activity he considered trivial. He has a good laugh about it with his friends [that is still allowed in your nulabour utopida isn't it ?]. Probably doesn't realise the certificate exists to enable a sense of achievement for those who have special needs and don't consider it as trivial an experience.

 

except it doesn't say anywhere that the certificate exists for such purposes. But then the idea was probably dreamt up by a left-wing do gooder like srochford so that we can all become caring, sharing, understanding sorts as members of society. And then the PC do-gooders get all condoscending when others don't see their own 360 degree view of the benefit to society as a whole of certificates for getting on the bus.

 

there was an element of tongue in cheek with the last paragraph, but the serious point is that i've found you to have become a bit tiring of late.

Edited August 16, 2009 by witch
edited to remove insult

[srochford]

I'm not remotely suggesting that there's any "benefit to society as a whole" for qualifications/certificates like this and I have no problem with people laughing at mis-use of quals (if that's what actually happened) but for a small number of people this would be a valid qualification, recognising that they have achieved something pretty special.

 

I think all arguments like this are supposed to descend to calling the other person a Nazi; so I'd guess I should do that now :-) In your Nazi world, we'd have no need of low level qualifications because we'd just get rid of anyone with any kind of disability and life would be lovely :-)

[russdev]

Look I told you all anyone who disagrees with me is wrong a

 

Russ

[torledo]

I think all arguments like this are supposed to descend to calling the other person a Nazi; so I'd guess I should do that now :-)

 

No, this is the bit where i call you a socialist.

 

[RabbieBurns]

Why doesnt parenting come in to this discussion. Surely the parents should be showing the kids how to catch a bus. Its like 50p to go a couple of stops. Kids are now having their teeth brushed by the teachers at school in the nursery dept.. I fail to see why this should be a legitimate thing. Special Needs kids excepted, but where do we draw the line?

 

Certificate for crossing the road? Certificate for buying a bag of apples?

[srochford]

It's worth taking a quick look at the spec for this qual (http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/pdf/AQA-4900-W-SP-09.PDF) which says in the introduction "The Entry Level Certificates are designed for use by students who are unlikely to reach Grade G at GCSE"

 

That includes many kids with special needs but also an awful lot of kids whose parents are simply not having any input into their education (either because they can't or won't - doesn't really matter)

 

Given that, some organisations try to do something with these kids and they end up with what look like pretty Mickey Mouse qualifications. I'd guess that the boy who made the news is either not "entry level" ability and shouldn't have been entered for this or is measured as entry level because he chooses not to do any work and also probably shouldn't have been entered for this because it then devalues it for the people who would benefit from having their minimal levels of achievement recognised.

[torledo]

double post.