Express & Star

Does education policy matter?

By
Published
Last updated

Education blog: Angela Gault of the University of Wolverhampton says that we need education that will take us forwards to give children the opportunities they deserve.

[caption id="attachment_182512" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Angela Gault"]Angela Gault[/caption]

Education is a subject close to the hearts of anyone with children or grandchildren going through the education system writes Angela Gault of the University of Wolverhampton.

It is also an area of fast changing reform by the current coalition government that is both bewildering and far-reaching.

Reforms to the Health Service have featured most in the headlines because any of us may need these services at any time during our lives.

I admit that I am fearful of the prospect of being ill and, if I ever need emergency care, I pray that it won't result in a visit to A+E on a Friday night, or being placed in a temporary, mixed ward at the weekend when the likelihood of seeing a doctor is remote.

We all want an excellent National Health Service free at the point of delivery regardless of income. We also want an excellent education system that supports all of our children to achieve their fullest potential.

However, what happens to our children as a result of changes to education policy is less obvious and immediate than in the area of Health reforms. Nevertheless, the impact of these changes will be profound, lifelong and will affect society as a whole.

The main problem that besets the education system is educational inequality. Educational standards are seen as not high enough for some groups of young people and far too many leave school with low qualifications.

Government ministers are keen to solve this problem and, with revolutionary zeal, they are forcing through rapid, whole- scale changes.

In secondary education, in the space of one year, government policy changes have included:

  • Central control of schools and school funding through Academy and Free Schools programmes

  • Encouraging entrepreneurial head teachers to generate their own income

  • Private sector/school partnerships

  • Increases to secondary schools’ minimum target performance measures

  • Changes to the National Curriculum to give priority to traditional academic subjects

  • Changes to GCSE examinations

  • The side-lining of vocational education

  • Changes to how Ofsted inspects schools (with a greater emphasis on observing individual teachers)

  • Proposed changes to how teachers are trained (favouring an apprenticeship model)

All of these measures are presented as solutions to the problems of inequality of educational outcomes and the perceived threat of Asian economic dominance.

Despite these many far-reaching changes though, Government education policies and actions are not hitting the headlines and therefore go unchallenged.

In the meantime educational inequality remains hidden beneath the surface and will be largely untouched by the reforms. It is even likely that educational inequality will increase.

How will parents negotiate this new educational world? How will they know which school is the best for their children when there will be even more 'types' to choose from?

How can they make sure they get the school places they do want when school places will always be limited? What kind of curriculum is best preparation for life in 21st century Britain? There could be many models on offer and how can they choose what's best?

These are familiar problems. Greater competition between schools, greater choice and diversity of provision will not create social equality and support meritocracy because in a market-driven education system the most powerful and better-off will always be best placed to take most advantage.

The key problem of inequality will remain. Despite Government rhetoric about wanting the best for all children, especially the most disadvantaged, the policy decisions already taken are likely to create an educational system that excludes rather than includes.

In a region where currently 125,000 young people aged between 16 and 24 are not in education, employment or training (NEET), we already know the dire consequences of social and educational exclusion.

We need education policies that will transform education rather than take us back to the past. Our children and future society deserve better.

Angela Gault is Secondary Schools Partnership Director at the University of Wolverhampton.

Image by Discover Science & Engineering on Flickr