The Live Wire



Press Release

Education quangos to be axed

14 October 2010

Commenting on the decision to get rid of or review 14 out of the 17 education quangos Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union said;

"While not every quango is perfect, axing or reviewing practically all of them is not the answer. Michael Gove's justification of putting school leaders and teachers back in control of school improvements simply does not stand up. Keeping Ofsted in its current form will do none of this. This is a body which presently rides roughshod over schools being able to decide the best practice for themselves and their pupils.

"In the absence of properly constituted negotiation about pay and conditions at national level, which the NUT would prefer, we welcome the retention of the School Teacher Review Body.

"Having expert bodies looking into issues such as teenage pregnancy are not wasteful luxuries but provide an important source of information and support for schools.

"This government's obsession that all schools can act entirely on their own as with the academies and Free Schools programme is a disastrous route to go down. Schools are not islands; they need central support from their Local Authority and also from professional bodies dedicated to inform government opinion on how we can make the education system work for all children.

"It would appear that far from freeing schools up from central government control, it is beginning to look as though all roads lead back to Whitehall".



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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