14-19 Year Old Diplomas

Commenting on the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee’s report on the introduction of the 14- 19 year old diplomas, Steve Sinnott General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe’s largest teaching union said:

I welcome the Select Committee’s recommendations. Clearly the Government has failed to appreciate the consequences of its failure to endorse the Tomlinson Report on 14 – 19 year old education.

Diplomas have to work for the sake of the young people who take them. Most schools are unaware of the reforms. There needs to be a crash programme of resourcing and training to ensure that schools and colleges are prepared for the diplomas. I also call on the Secretary of State to allow all secondary schools to take two extra days out of the school teaching year to enable them to prepare for the reforms.

The government’s refusal even to act on Ruth Kelly’s promise that the diploma programme will be reviewed in 2008 is a major disappointment. Alan Johnson should think again. The diploma contents are still to narrow. They currently risk being ignored by universities as proper qualifications.