| A very conservative revolution: Tory education policy examined |
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Conservatives’ education reforms “not radical enough” warns think tank. Liberal think tank CentreForum has today published a new report – ‘A very conservative revolution’ – which warns that David Cameron’s promised “education revolution” will only materialise if the party is brave enough to follow its proposed reforms to their logical conclusion. Commenting, Julian Astle, the report's author, said: “Conservative education policy has moved in a really interesting direction under Michael Gove’s stewardship. His plans for hundreds, if not thousands, of new independent state schools should finally deliver a genuinely dynamic and diverse education system, characterised by real competition between schools and meaningful choice for parents. And his plans for a Pupil Premium – a new funding system that will provide more money for poorer pupils – should mean that everyone, not just the sharp-elbowed middle classes, will benefit. We worry though that Michael Gove seems to be making policy with the handbrake on. In a number of key areas, he seems unwilling to follow his own reforms to their logical conclusion. He says he’s in favour of more freedom for schools. So why isn’t he planning to give all schools the freedom to set their own pay and conditions, rather than just academy schools? He says he’s in favour of bringing new money, new people and new ideas into the school system. So why won’t he allow commercial operators to set up state funded schools as happens in Sweden where three quarters of all ‘free schools’ are run by for-profit providers? He says he’s in favour of increased autonomy and freedom for schools. So why does he spend so much time telling schools what they should be teaching, and how they should be teaching it?” The paper also argues that alongside these dangers lies another threat: a lack of funds. It questions whether Michael Gove will succeed in funding his proposed Pupil Premium at a level where it would begin to have an impact – a minimum of £2 billion according to the author. David Cameron’s decision to protect the health budget will make this already difficult task harder still. Finding the money within the education budget means giving poorer pupils a bigger slice of a smaller cake. This cannot be done through ‘efficiency savings’ alone. Inevitably, Gove will have to transfer resources from non-deprived schools in leafy middle class neighbourhoods (including many Tory seats) to high poverty schools in deprived neighbourhoods (including many safe Labour seats). As the report concludes: “It reflects well on Michael Gove that he is prepared to push a policy that offers so little, directly, to Tory voters in suburban and rural England, but it is far from clear he will get his plans approved by the Treasury”. |
Julian Astle