Employers say education standards falling: don't confuse them with the facts

Now this is worrying. According to polls of employers reported here Employers call government statistics into question and find education standards to be falling | Education | guardian.co.uk this result came forth: "In a survey of business leaders, the IoD found that nearly half its members thought the quality of school education has declined, and the literacy and numeracy skills of young people has fallen over the past ten years."
And where's their evidence? See my blog entry the other day to see why I'm a little skeptical of the trustworthiness of this impression. You see, I don't think that this is anything more than the great British reflex of grumpy old men and women who can't stand the thought that youngsters might actually have had a better education than them and take refuge in the different curriculum to make indvidious comparisons which have little basis in fact and much basis in prejudice. However, in this case, the worrying thing is that it is people who might have an influence on hiring and firing hold such views. Very worrying.