Schools Minister Jim Knight today promised the Black Country’s children new opportunities to break free from the area’s cycle of industrial decline.
Speaking ahead of a visit to the area tomorrow to officially launch the Government’s Black Country Challenge to improve GCSE standards in Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall and Sandwell, he said the project offered “an opportunity to really take the Black Country forward”. The scheme will see around £28 million in extra funding in the area.
It will be made available to improve the schooling of children in deprived areas of the four boroughs.
The money will be targeted at schools where less than 30 per cent of students obtain GCSEs in English and maths.
It can be spent on teacher recruitment schemes, booster classes for GCSE students and new school organisations, such as federations, trusts and academies – promising extra help for headteachers, staff, pupils and parents to boost attainment.
The move is an extension of a scheme which has already proven to be a success in London.
It forms part of the Government’s nationwide ambition for no school to have less than 30 per cent of its pupils achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE – including English and maths – by 2011.
The minister insisted that he wanted to see all schools, not just the low-performers, improve their performance across the whole of the Black Country.
Mr Knight said: “Education here is improving.
“The proportion of pupils getting five good GCSEs has already increased by 11 percentage points since 1997.
“But it is not improving fast enough.
“One of our focuses will be to increase the number of pupils gaining five good GCSEs including English and maths.
“There are also wide variations between schools and one of the benefits the Challenge can bring is at a very practical level – to share what works and build on this.”
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5 Comments
wow 11% improvement since 1997 how many more times do they have to refer to the tories,thats just under 1%per annum not much when you consider how much money labour have thrown at education or should i say thrown away
28 million quid is small change when one considers the requirements for the repairs required by the system.
Perhaps if successive governments stopped moving the goal posts for students and teachers alike, removedthe surplus of paperwork and actually cared a little there would be a marked improvement not only in results, but in the quality of life for all concerned in the process.
GREAT TO STOP THE DECLINE ! LIKE STOPPING A EUROSTAR TRAIN.
JUST FOR YOU : OUR JOBCENTRES HERE IN FRANCE ARE OFFERING OR RATHER PUSHING JOBS IN INDIA FOR 320EUROS A MONTH. I WAS OFFERED A TRANSFER TO MALAYSIA FOR 170EUROS (WRITTEN PROOF).
THE PAPERS AND TEMP. JOB AGENCIES HERE ARE FULL OF OFFERS ABOUT HOW LOVELY IT IS TO WORK IN CHINA.
I THINK YOUR MINISTER IS SHUTTING THE GATE AFTER THE HORSE HAS BOLTED.HE IS TEN YEARS BEHIND REALITY.POOR BLACK COUNTRY KIDS.SORRY BUT THE JOBS HAVE GONE OR ARE GOING.BUT PLEASE BE AROUND TO PAY PEOPLE’S PENSIONS !
Improve standards? Well it’s a pity that doesn’t apply to the standards of THIS government.
I’m sick of being blamed for their failings. I worked very hard to obtain my further education and you know what was he for me? Nothing but rubbish. I went abroad and there were better jobs, there was better housing, cheaper living. My education was respected instead of despised. Stop keep blaming the people on the receiving end.
This is not about the government! its about supporting schools and pupils in helping them achieve all they can. Why is it always about the government and how they waste are money and time? and never about what the article is actually about? at least we are trying to create oppotunities for children, its better than non at all. You should all be ashamed of yourself and concentrate on what really matters.