Education standards ‘not good enough’ warns former Tesco boss Learning House

Education standards ‘not good enough’ warns former Tesco boss

June 23, 2011 – 11:24 am

Sir Terry Leahy, the former chief executive of Tesco, has issued a stark warning about poor standards in Britain’s schools and universities which leave youngsters ill-prepared for work. Education standards ‘not good enough’ warns former Tesco boss

In a passionate speech focusing on the importance of education, Sir Terry said British businesses needed more pupils to be taught “harder” subjects at school such as mathematics, sciences and languages.

Universities focus too much on research at the expense of teaching, said Sir Terry, one of the country’s leading businessmen.

He said that “one or two essays a term does not equip a person for the rigours of work”.

“There are probably too many low quality business courses being taught, that universities think are what the businesses need,” he said.

Sir Terry, who stepped down from the helm of Britain’s largest private employer earlier this year after 14 years in charge, was addressing an audience of teachers at the Wellington College Festival of Education.

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“Standards in schools vary too widely, more widely than you would find in business,” he said.

“The standards in too many schools are simply not good enough.

“The answer is deceptively simple. It is about good leadership in each school, good teachers in each classroom and support in their work by the wider society.”

He said this was often hampered by a “myriad” of well-meaning Government initiatives and a tendency to “micromanage” education, with “too much management, and not enough help or trust”.

Sir Terry, who was raised on a council estate in Liverpool, said businesses needed to engage with schools and universities to help raise standards and make sure pupils were being taught “emotional-intelligence” skills that would equip them for the world of work, which he said was nothing like the image portrayed by television shows such as The Apprentice.

He said: “It’s not a good reflection of what’s needed for success in business. Success in business is about good manners, the ability to work in a team, to motivate others, to give more in than you take out, about integrity.”

He also called on schools to celebrate the benefits of business, and halt the growth of the idea that “people who go into business and entrepreneurship are selfish people doing it for themselves”.

Sir Terry, who recently invested in an online homework site, has previously attacked Britain’s education system, warning in 2009 that Tesco, which employs 492,000 people worldwide, was being “left to pick up the pieces” of low standards of education of its UK employees.

Learning House