FILTER RESULTS
FILTER RESULTS
close.svg
Search Result for “Programme for International Student Assessment”

Showing 1 - 10 of 108

OPINION

What the world needs now is…

Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/02/2026

» With yesterday being Valentine's Day it seems appropriate for PostScript to have a brief word on matters of the heart. I admit to not being a huge fan of Valentine's Day but in these crazy times anything that promotes love over hate seems worthy of a mention. Although it is one of the most blatantly commercialised celebrations on the calendar it serves as a welcome break from the daily diet of depressing news we have been subjected to lately.

OPINION

A word that has me at sixes and sevens

Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/11/2025

» I try to keep up with the ever-evolving English language but after seeing the buzzwords provided by Dictionary.com this week I fear I am being left way behind.

OPINION

The time I really put my foot in it

Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/10/2025

» A half-hearted spring-cleaning session at home during the week came to a welcome halt when I unearthed a couple of my father's wartime RAF books under a pile of disintegrating paperbacks. The Air Ministry books, published more than 80 years ago, always serve as a reminder of when as a kid I made a faux pas of embarrassing proportions.

OPINION

Good time to celebrate verbal gaffes

Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/10/2025

» Tomorrow happens to be Plain English Day which has in recent years morphed into International Plain Language Day designed to promote the proper use of language. In other words the aim is to cut out all the gibberish, mumbo jumbo, codswallop, balderdash, tripe, tommyrot, twaddle, tosh and bosh you may have become accustomed to… heaven forbid, some of it even in PostScript.

OPINION

The toothpaste which created TV history

Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/09/2025

» Last week marked the 70th anniversary of television advertisements in Britain. For years the BBC had been the only TV network in Britain and no ads were allowed. But in the mid-1950s along came Independent Television (ITV) which was launched to create competition, the big difference being that it was permitted to finance itself by showing advertisements.

OPINION

A magician from the trenches of war

Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/09/2025

» Last month PostScript mentioned the strange phenomenon of how the 1950s British ventriloquist Peter Brough and his schoolboy dummy Archie Andrews had a successful radio show called Educating Archie. Although Brough's ventriloquist skills was a visual art and seemed wasted on radio it didn't appear to bother listeners.

OPINION

Paper bags, patriotism and mushy peas

Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/08/2025

» One of the more thought-provoking stories of the week was an unnamed Thai hospital being fined after it was discovered private files on patients were being used to make paper bags for popular street snacks. Apparently some people at the business entrusted with destroying the files instead took them home and made paper bags out of them.

OPINION

Strange choices of pets in Thailand

Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/08/2025

» There was a report in last Monday's Post that lions are becoming popular pets in Thailand. It is believed there are about 500 captive lions mainly in Thailand's zoos, breeding farms and petting cafes, but more disturbingly, some in private homes. It doesn't need spelling out why this is not a good idea.

OPINION

A 10-day journey across snowy Iran

Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/06/2025

» Watching events unfold in the Middle East last week sparked memories of the brief time I spent in Iran a long time ago in more peaceful times. In February 1969 I travelled across the northern part of the nation during an overland trip from London to New Delhi. The country was still run by the Shah who was overthrown 10 years later in the Iranian Revolution.

OPINION

The 1970 visa run into a war zone

Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/06/2025

» The Thai/Cambodian border has been in the news lately and let's hope everything is sorted out quickly and amicably. It sparked memories of the first time I crossed into Cambodia from Thailand back in October 1970. Now that's a long time ago.