Commenting on plans announced today by , the Secretary of State for
Education, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary
of the National Education Union, said:
“Education in our country is facing real problems – mental health
issues for our children, a growing teacher recruitment and
retention crisis, and huge funding cuts. This Government seems to
have no idea how to tackle these problems and is simply recycling
its same old failed policies.
“The grammar school corpse has climbed out of its coffin once
again despite evidence of the damage that selective education
causes. Once prior attainment and pupil background is taken into
account, research shows there is no overall attainment impact of
grammar schools, either positive or negative. (1) Furthermore,
the attainment of grammar school pupils comes at the expense of
those who don’t pass their 11-plus, with pupil attainment at
secondary moderns in areas with a selective education system
lower than that of their counterparts in comprehensive schools.
(2) Selective education systems are also linked with
greater inequality in social outcomes later in life. (3)
“In the face of such overwhelming evidence, it therefore beggars
belief that the Government has announced it will plough £50
million to expand the number of places at existing selective
grammar schools. Schools up and down the country are
desperately short of funds. This is money that would be better
invested in ensuring all schools could provide for the basic
needs of their pupils without having to ask for money from
parents.
“Expanding the number of unaccountable free schools will not
solve the school place shortage. Instead, Government must return
powers and funding to local authorities to enable them to plan
and manage school places in a rational and cost-effective way.
Schools must be accountable to communities, this is the only way
we can avoid the academic and governance failures and school
closures that have characterised the free schools programme to
date.
“The retention of the 50% cap on faith admissions to free schools
is welcome. While some parents may welcome the expansion of
voluntary-aided faith schools, the Government should not confine
plans to open new schools to this route. Many communities need
new schools to cope with rising demand and taxpayer funded
capital funding should be available to meet local need across the
board. Local authorities are best placed to consult communities
and determine the appropriate provision in their area.
“The experience of universities and independent schools working
with the state sector to raise attainment has not been a positive
one to date. This is another ideologically-driven initiative that
lacks an evidence base to support it. The funding for this new
‘dedicated unit’ to promote such partnerships should be diverted
instead to state schools which are crying out for the funding
they need to educate their pupils and students.”
ENDS
2018-054-NEU
Editor’s Notes:
1. Rebecca Johnes, Jo Hutchinson and Jon
Andrews (September 2016), Grammar Schools And Social
Mobility, Education Policy Institute. Summary available
here: https://epi.org.uk/report/grammar-schools-social-mobility/ Full
report available at: http://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Grammar-schools-and-social-mobility_.pdf
2. Freddie Whittaker (25 July 2016), ‘Fact-check: Do the
arguments for new grammar schools stack up?’ Schools Week,
3. OECD (2016), Equations and Inequalities
– Making Mathematics Accessible to All, OECD
Publishing, Paris. p. 90.
