Stuck in the bog
October 17, 2001 12:00 AM
By Stephen Williams in Bristol West End News
By Stephen Williams in Bristol West End News
I have a confession to make. I was educated at what the Prime Minister would describe as a "bog standard comprehensive". It was by no means a good school but I went from there to my place at Bristol University, so I was able to achieve something better than whatever the PM means by "bog standard."
During the general election Labour announced that their second term would focus on secondary education. The new education secretary, Estelle Morris, has published plans that will see an allocation of funds to "specialist" schools. She hopes by the next election in 2005 that 40 per cent of secondary schools will have specialist status. What she doesn't say is that six out of ten children will be stuck in the bog standard schools that are viewed with such prime ministerial disdain.
This may be good news if your child can get in to a specialist school. Every parent naturally wants the best for their child but will have to face the fact that six out of ten families will not be able to get what they want. The bog standard schools will inevitably be seen as second best and some of them will drift down to whatever is the standard lower than "bog", maybe "sink" schools.
This is depressing enough but haven't we been here before? Specialist schools inevitably will have to select their pupils by testing for the aptitude that matches whatever is the school's specialism. Those that don't have the aptitude will presumably be directed to the nearest bog. Ms Morris' predecessor, David Blunkett, told a Labour conference, "read my lips, no selection whether by examination or interview, under a Labour government." Never trust a politician who invites you to read his lips.
This secondary education shake up also has to fit in with Mr Blair's desire to found more "faith based" schools. Are we to have Protestant Mechanical Institutes and Jewish Schools of Performing Arts?
Comprehensive schools have taken about 40 years to become established in every part of England and Wales. At their best they serve all sectors of their local community, catering for differing educational needs. Those that are not doing well may need better management and more resources, rather than a different name or status. For all the flurry of speeches and initiatives from government ministers the fact is that education has received a lower share of national income under Labour than it did under Thatcher and Major.
Secondary education will only see a real transformation if it is given the resources needed to deliver a broad curriculum, with small class sizes. The extra resources will be needed to pay for extra teachers. The most amazing feature of the start of the new school year was the spectacle of schools having to trawl the poorer parts of the globe in order to find the teachers needed to fill a record level of vacancies.
Unless the government does something to raise the morale of serving teachers and to make the profession attractive to potential recruits, then its caravan of reforms and initiatives is likely to find its wheels stuck in a bog.
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