The education system is "in danger of implosion" because of falling standards, North-East business leaders have warned. And proposals to revamp schooling between the ages of 14 and 19 will do nothing to address the North's serious skills shortage, according to the CBI. It discussed a plan to replace GCSEs and A-levels with a four-tier assessment at a regional council meeting this week. The proposals, unveiled in February by a working group headed by former chief inspector of schools Mike Tomlinson, were designed to ensure everyone leaves school with basic skills. But CBI North-East director Steve Rankin said: "Falling standards will not be addressed. There's a real need to concentrate on three things: basic numeracy, basic literacy and attitude." He said a culture in which people who do not go to university are considered "second class citizens" needs to be changed. He said there should be a better way of distinguishing top performers, as too many people have five A-levels and a 2:1 degree. "There has to be a system which marks out the people that achieve the most," said Mr Rankin. "One regional councillor said the whole system was on the verge of implosion, which seemed to elicit support from around the table." But North-East education chiefs disagreed. Harry O'Neill, Sunderland's Building Schools for the Future project director, said: "It is disappointing that CBI chiefs should be so dismissive of standards in 14-19 education and of the proposals unveiled by the Tomlinson group." A spokeswoman for Newcastle City Council said: "Pupils deserve to be congratulated on their success, which we are sure they will take with them into working life. Newcastle Local Education Authority already has a number of successful strategies in place to improve levels of literacy and numeracy." Chris Roberts, North-East director of the Learning and Skills Council, said: "The skills sector is seriously harmed by the number of people who leave full-time education at age 16, never to return." | 
Northumberland
