Children opt for easy subjects instead of academics, study finds
More schoolchildren are dropping academic subjects such as English literature in favour of easier vocational subjects, according to a recent survey.
A charity set up by the Prince of Wales, The Prince's Teaching Institute (PTI), conducted a survey and found that the number of children taking the literacy subject at GCSE level has fallen by 12 per cent in the last four years to the lowest rate of 500,000 pupils, the Telegraph reports.
The PTI developed out of the Prince of Wales Education Summer Schools, which were held every year from 2002 to 2006 for teachers of English and history and now seeks seek to engage children in academics.
Bernice McCabe, director of the PTI and headmistress of North London Collegiate School, said: "The ways in which literature and history help us to understand what it is to be human and to appreciate the diversity of human experience [should be reinforced]."
She added that teachers and parents have a responsibility to ensure that traditional subjects are maintained in the education syllabus.
