Our Education System is Failing, and Our Children Are Paying the Price

The cracks in our education system aren’t just starting to show, they’ve been there for decades. But now, they’re widening quickly, and it’s our children who are slipping through. 

 

We continue to push an outdated, industrial-age model of education onto 21st-century children. A system that values conformity over creativity, compliance over curiosity, and standardisation over strengths. As a result, more and more young people are becoming disengaged, disillusioned, and deeply unwell. 

 

 

Education should prepare children for life. It should help them think critically, communicate well, understand themselves and others, solve problems, and adapt to an ever-changing world. But let’s be honest, does it? 

 

Right now, it’s preparing children for exams. It’s measuring their worth by how well they can memorise content and regurgitate it under pressure. It’s training them to fit a mould, not find their purpose. 

 

We’ve lost sight of what truly matters and built a system that values grades over growth, and standardised scores over individual strengths. 

 

 

Let’s talk about what’s happening behind the scenes. Mothers are now being pushed back into work when their babies are just nine months old. For many families, this isn’t a choice, it’s a government mandate dressed up as ‘equality’ or ‘economic growth.’ 

 

What it really means is this, the state is raising our children. From as young as nine months, children are placed in institutions. And from then on, the government decides what they will learn, when they’ll learn it, and how their success will be measured. 

 

Parents are increasingly being pushed out of the equation, told to trust the system, while being given very little say in what’s best for their child. We’ve normalised this separation, this loss of parental autonomy, and it’s time we questioned it. 

 

 

Anxiety, depression, self-harm, and burnout are no longer rare concerns, they’re now commonplace. Schools are under pressure to hit attendance targets and academic results, yet they often lack the resources, training, and flexibility to meet children where they are. 

 

This is especially true for neurodivergent pupils. Autistic children, those with ADHD, sensory processing differences, or other learning needs are being told to fit into a rigid box that was never designed with them in mind. And when they can’t, they’re punished, excluded, or labelled as “difficult.” 

 

We’re asking children to adapt to a system that refuses to adapt to them. 

 

 

Let’s stop calling it “school refusal” and start calling it what it really is, school-related trauma. 

 

Many children who don’t attend school are not being naughty or lazy. They are overwhelmed, they are unsupported, they are afraid. 

 

Their behaviour is not the problem, the system is. 

 

 

Here’s what no one wants to say out loud, education has become a business. 

 

Institutions are pouring millions into getting children to pass the same English and Maths GCSEs again and again. Each resit costs money, and someone is making money from it. 

 

While young people are left demoralised and feeling like failures, exam boards and training providers profit. Every resit is another transaction. But behind the data and the money trail, there are real children, frustrated, anxious, and convinced they’re not good enough. 

 

Who benefits when a child retakes Maths three, four, even five times? Because it’s not the child. It's not the teacher. It’s not the parent. 

 

It’s the companies selling the qualifications, the publishers, the training providers, and the exam boards. The longer we keep children stuck in a system that doesn’t work for them, the longer that money keeps flowing. 

 

 

The curriculum leaves little room for individuality, creativity, or real-world skills. Children are tested relentlessly, yet we fail to teach them how to manage emotions, understand their brains, build resilience, or prepare for the actual challenges of adulthood. 

 

We don’t nurture their unique strengths, we grade them against arbitrary standards. 

 

And for those who learn differently, many don’t get diagnosed early enough, don’t get the right support, and too often, don’t even get heard. 

 

 

We need a radical rethink of what education is for. It should not just be about passing exams, it should be about nurturing the whole child. That means, 

 

Recognising the diverse ways children learn 

 

Prioritising emotional wellbeing 

 

Ending punitive behaviour policies 

 

Making support accessible, not a battle 

 

Training teachers in neurodiversity and trauma-informed practice 

 

Listening to children and families 

 

Valuing parental voices and choices 

 

Because when we fail our children, we fail our future. 

 

Let’s Be Clear, This Comes From a Place of Care 

 

This isn’t about tearing down education. It’s about standing up for children. It’s about saying, enough is enough, because our kids deserve better. 

 

We mean well. We care deeply. But we have to stop pretending this broken system is working. We have to stop allowing education to be run like a business, where children become data points and profit margins. 

 

It’s time to put education back in the hands of people who care about children, not those who care about contracts. It’s time to teach life skills, not just test-taking strategies. To raise emotionally intelligent, curious, compassionate individuals, not just high achievers on paper. 

 

Because education should never be about keeping kids in a system for profit, it should be about preparing them for life.