Six Scottish universities to offer crash course ... in basic English

Published on Monday 27 September 2004 02:10

RECORD numbers of first-year students will be offered crash courses in basic English and grammar when they begin university today.

Nearly half of Scotland’s 13 universities have been forced to provide remedial fast-track classes because of plunging literacy levels in schools. University teachers say that undergraduates are simply not prepared for higher education when they leave school and are unable to meet the demands of a degree course.

Universities, including Strathclyde and Aberdeen, are providing freshers with classes in essay writing, study skills and grammar, in an effort to help them get through their degrees.

Professor Joe Farrell, a modern-languages expert at Strathclyde University, warned that a fundamental lack of basic education was stunting students’ ability and leaving them ill-equipped to deal with the world of work.

He said: "We are dealing with people who have no idea of the grammar of their own language, so we have to provide very elementary teaching before we can do any proper teaching of the target language. The problem is being concealed by talk of the percentage of Higher passes on the increase, when in fact there is no improvement in basic skills."

Grammar, once regarded as an essential part of the curriculum, is no longer taught in many schools. As a result, Napier and Heriot-Watt universities in Edinburgh, Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Robert Gordon universities in Aberdeen and Abertay University in Dundee have introduced remedial courses this semester.

A lecturer at Aberdeen University said he was continually forced to deduct marks from students because of basic spelling mistakes, bad punctuation and poor sentence construction.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said it was working to raise standards and was preparing to introduce initiatives to target secondary-school pupils.