Commenting on
Academies Sector Annual Report and
Accounts 2019/20, published by the House of Commons Committee of Public
Accounts, Dr Mary
Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union,
said:
“This is a very timely report which
shows us, ahead of the White Paper, that the Government’s plans
for a fully academised system are based on spurious claims
about the benefits of multi-academy trusts
(MATs).
“The report makes all too clear that
these plans are likely to be both unworkable and damaging. The
rationale of the academy system - based on competition
between chains - means there will always be schools that are
left unsupported. Yet, as the report sets out, there will also be
academy chains that are too big to fail, meaning the government
will continue to pump money into the coffers of big-name MATs and
into a system that is dysfunctional.
“It is incredible that the Government
is still unable to get a hold of the rocketing pay of academy
chief executives. While schools are forced to tighten budgets and
cut back on key areas, this is nothing short of a
disgrace.
“The report also makes clear that
there is a deficit of both accountability and transparency in the
academies system. The government now likes to refer to ‘families
of schools’, despite being responsible for tearing those families
apart over the past twelve years. This is a clear effort to
distract from the reality of academisation: pushing schools into
a top-down corporate structure has left staff, parents,
pupils and communities with less of a voice and little say over
the future of their school. Top-down reorganisations that
increase private involvement in state services is something the
public does not want to see.
“Following the pandemic, there are a
clear set of priorities in education that the government should
be addressing. Whether it be funding, curriculum, education
recovery, tackling the increasing levels of child poverty, or the
crises in teacher recruitment and retention, one thing we can be
sure of is that massive and unnecessary structural change is very
far down the list. Indeed, there is no place whatsoever for such
ideological obsessions.”
