MAKING A PROFIT FROM OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.

The government is pushing for more private investment into our education system, for public schools to become more like the private school system. They want to see a profit from education, to have schools making money.
Now just how can education and making a profit go together? Well as shown with the Universities tuition fees there is a cash cow there but can a nation that insists on education for all really do that?
Well let’s jump into the future of what our education could be in 30 years’ time and see how an education system could return a profit if it is run as a business.

Well tuition fees will be a must for all children. Now the government will cover the cost of a basic education where you child learns the basics of reading, writing and basic mathematics up to the age of 12. After that student loans will be available to cover the rest of your child’s education, the amount of the loan needed will depend on the school and education you wish to purchase. Your child’s education level will depend on how much you want to spend on it, a tailored education for your child’s life needs. You will have control of what they learn about by choosing the core subjects they will study. You don’t think that trigonometry is useful then they don’t study it. You and your child have the control on what they learn about so you don’t pay for learning the things they won’t need. An individual education for every child where you decide what level of education they learn to.
The next big change will be we wouldn’t need a Head Teacher in the schools as that position would be taken up by a business manager who would ensure a good return for investors. Also would you really need every class to have a professional teacher, especially when teaching children under 12? I mean just think of the money saved if you employed unqualified people at minimum wage, after all how hard is it to teach reading and writing? All these ‘teachers’ will have to do is work from a basic government guidebook, if parents want more they can purchase extra educational needs for their children.
The next thing schools can make money from is sponsorship from big companies and here there is a big opportunity to exploit, School uniforms. Sportswear firms can sponsor a school and in return they provide the uniforms that the children wear, at a fair market price. These companies can also provide worthwhile work experience for the students by providing ‘work’ placements for children of up to 3 days in a school week. On these placements the children will learn to make the uniforms they wear, working in factories and able to build up credits that can be used to pay off their student loan when they leave school. This will see a return of the manufacturing industry to the UK and children leaving school with real life experience of working in the real world.
Lessons will be central to the new education system and here is another way to gain investment. A company or organisation can bid to provide a schools lesson plan for each subject. If they want to provide a school history lessons then for the right ‘bid’ they can chose what part of history your child is taught, science can be tailored to the needs of a company in the area so the education meets the needs of the company or organisation. Education will be about providing real life skills to the student, learning what is needed to set them up for their future. If a religious organisation wishes to ensure their children are taught the truth, according to their beliefs then they can take over ownership of a school and tailor lessons to meet the needs of their pupils. By choosing these schools parents can choose to have their children taught only what is true to their own beliefs and so protect their faith. And as the school is free to set the cost of the education they provide they can collect financial donation(tax free) to offset the cost to the pupil, even providing 'free' tuition.
All in all the future of education for profit gives the child and parent the choice and full control of what they need, a tailored education for their future in our rapidly changing world. They will learn only what they need and will have the chance to repay their student loan before they leave the education system, learning valuable work skills in the process.

My Writing Process, author blog tour.

My Writing Process - Blog Tour.
Well here goes nothing then; Rob Bayliss tagged me in this author blog tour where we all talk about our different writing styles. Rob is the author of The Sun Shard novel and is currently working on the follow up Flint and Steel, Fire and Shadow. (The Sun Shard is available from Amazon so go find it and check it out.) Now while as many of you know I’m not really an author but a story teller it seems I’ve still not been found out yet and kicked out of the author lounge. To read Robs blog on his writing process just follow this link –
http://sunshard.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/my-writing-process-blog-tour.html?spref=fb


So let’s get down to the questions and see if I can give you some answers that make at least a little sense.

1. What am I working on?
At the moment I’m struggling with two stories and working on whichever I seem to be getting the ideas for. The first one is another story based around my John the Barman short story. This is a mysterious owner of a bar where gods and all sorts of supernatural creatures go to unwind after a hard day doing their job. It fills in the blanks of what these creatures really do and think about and the day to day trials of their lives. In the second story Lucifer, Death and a group of the customers decide they need a holiday to escape the stress of work. What follows is a no experience spared ‘lads’ package holiday which includes them coping with budget airlines and ensuring you get a sun lounger by the pool. Sunburn and drunken nights abound as the group experience their first holiday ever.
The second work in progress is the ever so slightly later than promised Third Book in the Alienbutt Saga. This comedy space opera sees the hero, Piestoff Alienbutt left leading the Ick and rebels of the Outer Systems after the bloody rise of the evil Mr Fluffy. With the universe in tatters and the heart of the Federation and Coffee Houses ripped apart old enemies must form an uneasy alliance to combat the diabolical Mr Fluffy as he tightens his grip on his new universal empire. With Fate and Destiny left wondering what went wrong can Alienbutt still be the saviour of the Ick Empire or will the universe fall to utter ruin?

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

With my stories I try to take a totally ridiculous idea and turn it into a story that is not just (hopefully) funny but also action packed.
The Alienbutt Saga is based around humanity using coffee, which is the most addictive drug ever know, to take control of the universe. Only the last Alienbutt and the Ick Empire can stop them, well that is until a new evil rises to challenge both sides. The mysterious Mr Fluffy is a super intelligent cat who aims to take control of the universe that rightly belongs to him anyway. The story is full of epic space battles and strange science as war rips apart the universal peace.
John the Barman is about putting gods and supernatural beings into everyday situations of having jobs they hate, retirement and growing old and online dating problems. Also my other short story series in the Vampire Eloim Stories, the tale of a teenage cross dressing vampire struggling to stay out of trouble as a Demon Empress tries to hunt him down. A young vampire that is stylish (even if it is his sister’s outfit he’s wearing.) but doesn’t think twice about killing and would only go to a school to drink all the cheer leaders.

Why do I write what I do?
I have a twisted sense of humour and like to look at the world and see the bizarre in everyday things. I get random ideas and sometimes they come together into something I can make into a story. I would struggle to write a story that didn’t have a slightly twisted angle to the subject as my brain can’t cope with serious, so I’m left to my own devices so far to just be that strange person telling daft stories.

How does my writing process work?
Well the easy answer is I sit with a glass of whisky and drink, type and refill the glass. This is because I only really get the peace on an evening to sit down, relax and write. During the day there’s always things that need doing (Facebook isn’t a distraction at all, honest.) and until I sell enough books I can’t afford a housekeeper. I get ideas from anywhere, a random conversation or just letting my mind wander. John the Barman came from a Facebook status update and the equally twisted minds of people on my friends list. I don’t have any rules for writing, never set targets (I always miss them) I just see an idea and try to see where it will go. If it’s a good idea then the words will flow and I end up with something, if not it’s back to Candy Crush until another idea forms. Another good point of my writing style is I’m lazy so because of my subject matter I don’t need to do a lot of research, I really do just make it all up as I go along.

Well that’s me, like I said I’m a story teller as I’m far too unorganised to be an author. Next up on this Blog Tour is one of my favourite horror authors and luckily for me a friend. The founder, with her husband of Gingernut Books who decided they like my daft stories enough to take me on.
So let me introduce the red-headed stealer of souls from the depths of Sherwood Forest, the amazingly talented Michelle Gent. Michelle burst onto the horror scene with the amazing Deadlier… than the Male, a sprawling epic that introduced readers to her world of wolfkind. With more books following plus her Dusty the Demon Hunter series she has established herself as a mistress of horror.

Her blog can be found here:
http://www.dmichellegent.co.uk/blog.html