Overburdened pupils 'no longer read for pleasure'

Sixth-formers snowed under by the new AS-level system no longer read for pleasure, the chairman of the Independent Schools Association said yesterday.

Michael Hewett said pupils did not have the time to discover authors such as Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake or H G Wells, who were outside the national syllabus but helped to broaden students' understanding of the world.

Mr Hewett told the association's annual conference in Norwich: "The lower sixth was once a time for reading and for enjoying the broader aspects of education. We were able to spend time in conversation and debate about the issues of the day. Not any more.''

The introduction in 2001 of AS-levels, taken in the third term of the lower sixth, was largely to blame for increasing the pressure, he added. Reading for pleasure was under threat "at a time when it could be even more important.

"It is of course vitally important that we have methods for assessment of performance but there are huge dangers in becoming too prescriptive in our methods. Where is the time for an activity so important to one's general education as well as one's well-being and sense of place and perspective?" he added.

Mr Hewett also blamed the decline of reading on computer games and television programmes and called on parents to restrict children's television viewing and computer access during term time.

"There are many more activities that can occupy children's time," he said. "Most homes have personal computers, almost all television and video. I loudly applaud those parents who restrict access and viewing time during term time."

Many headteachers have complained that teenagers are experiencing "exam overload" under the new system, with extracurricular activities being squeezed out.

Mr Hewett also complained that standards of grammar were in decline because pupils were being misled by incorrect examples featured on television programmes.

He said: "Teaching the basic rules of grammar is made no easier when the media, particularly television, insist on programme titles without capital letters. It becomes more difficult to show examples of good practice as the traditional styles of writing are ditched in favour of the visually stimulating but incorrect. The decline may be gradual but it is decline nevertheless."

The Independent Schools Association is one of the five professional associations of heads within the Independent Schools Council. The association's 290 member schools educate more than 70,000 pupils.