Balls aims to improve excluded education

Schools secretary Ed Balls is set to publish a white paper aimed at improving the education of pupils excluded from the mainstream system.

 

Under the plans, private companies and charities could be involved in setting up new provision for those excluded in England.

 

Only one per cent of those in pupil referral units, where most excluded pupils are currently educated, gain five good GCSEs, and they will be more closely monitored.

 

About 70,000 pupils are taught in pupil referral units and other alternative services at any one time.

 

The government wants to improve the quality of education for these pupils - both through early intervention and greater scrutiny of how referral units are performing.

 

A more clearly defined curriculum for excluded pupils is expected to be adopted to ensure that they are taught basic skills.

 

Balls has said he is determined to improve the quality of pupil referral units and to offer alternatives, including vocational centres.

 

David Cameron has previously called for a wider use of the voluntary sector with such disruptive youngsters - arguing that referral units were expensive and ineffective.

 

The NUT's Jerry Glazier however has objected to the use of agencies outside the public sector.

 

He said: "We think it's absolutely crucial that local authorities work with their own resources, with schools, to provide the best quality provision and I'm unconvinced that a private provider will be able to do that effectively.

 

"There are some excellent pupils referral units across the country - those need to be extended, that provision needs to be strengthened, local authorities and government need to commit themselves to more resources, and then I think we will see stepped improvements."

 

However, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said it was irrelevant whether the referral centres were run by the public or private sector as quality was the key consideration.