What’s going on, Gove?
Education Secretary Michael Gove is a devious man. He has a vision of every school being independent of state shackles but in reality his plans for ‘free’ schools and academies are stumbling along with very little vision and rather a lot of money from central government. His every announcement about cuts in government spending provokes such roars of outrage that he has had to immediately retract or modify them – or has he? Was money cut from the Book Start Scheme or not, following protests from children’s authors? Will School Sports Partnerships be cut after leading sports people objected? Will the funding for the £38.1 million-a-year Creative Partnerships project be withdrawn despite the fury of critics including actor Sir Ian McKellen? Answers remain vague. What is certain is that 75% of state schools face cuts in real terms in the next academic year.
The ‘free lunch’ method
So far head teachers have not challenged the cuts agenda, but are merely dancing to Gove’s tune in a competitive struggle to get the most funding possible for their own schools. The pupil premium – extra cash of approximately £123,560 for any school with 35% or more of pupils on free school meals – will be withdrawn from schools with lower percentages. Schools are now encouraging parents to apply for free school meals to get more from central budget.
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc)
The word is Latin in origin but in English it is pronounced ‘grammar school’. This year’s school League Tables will be graded on the number of pupils achieving grade A*-C in English, maths, two sciences, a foreign language and either history or geography – the newly-minted English Bacc. All excellent subjects no doubt, but since 2005 – when taking a foreign language GCSE was made optional under Labour – most schools substituted vocational qualifications, IT and Business Studies for the traditional humanities. Consequently, many schools will slip down this year’s League Tables. One school had more than 70% of pupils achieving the previous government GCSE benchmark. This drops to 3% measured as EBacc. Nationally, only 16% of schools will achieve passes in the academic subjects that, as it so happens, Gove himself took at school.
League Tables for five-year-olds
Gove wants schools to be pitted against each other in national competition, continuing the illusion that schools are a market and the parents consumers. Plans are underway to publish League Tables of learning achievements for five-year-olds ‘so that parents can know the best schools’. But increasing competition between schools for the best pupils does not achieve better results nationally. The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment test results published in December 2010 show the UK dropping from 17th to 25th place amongst OECD countries in reading, 24th to 28th in maths and 14th to 16th in science. Only seven OECD countries spend more per student than the UK, so the results indicate the uneven and divisive use of educational resources in this country. Class privilege and competitiveness are still the driving forces of the education system in this country. We need to democratise the lot.
Susan Davidson
FRFI 219 February / March 2011
