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Issue of the day: Education
Party spokesmen debate the future of the education system.
Labour: Education secretary Ruth Kelly
Education is still our number one priority. Our plan for a third term is to tailor our education system to individual pupil needs, with parents supporting teachers and support staff in further raising standards. That means a good secondary school for every child; catch-up support for all children who need it; the guarantee of a sixth-form place, apprenticeship or further education at 16; sufficient quality and quantity in higher education.
We want to see every pupil mastering the basics. If they are not mastered by 11, there will be extra time in the secondary curriculum to get them right: schools will be judged on how pupils do in English and maths at the ages of 11, 14 and 16. We want every pupil to be stretched, including the brightest.
We will continue to raise the share of national income devoted to education and will ensure fundamental reform in the way the money is spent. There will be a dedicated national schools budget set by central government, with a guaranteed per-pupil increase for every school. Heads and governors will be in control.
Successful schools and colleges will have the independence to take decisions about how to deploy resources and develop their provision.
Every pupil has the right to learn without disruption; no teacher should be subject to abuse or disrespect. We have given head teachers the powers needed to maintain discipline and the highest standards of conduct.
The choice for 2010 is forward with new Labour: pupils with quality and opportunity through the system from three to 18; parents with the confidence that where there is no improvement there will be intervention; teachers knowing that quality will be supported and rewarded; and employers with a system that gets the basics right and provides the skills that industry needs.
Or back with the Tories to an education system designed to look after the few but fail the many.
Conservatives: Shadow education secretary Damian Green
Conservative education policy has the same focus as our wider goal for government: to give people greater opportunity in life.
We pledge not only to match Labour spending on schools but also to increase it, and to target that funding more effectively.
Above and beyond the current school-building budget, we will provide an additional ₤15bn each year for the building of schools until 2009-10. This means that we can pay for the extra capacity to make good on our pledge to give parents a right to choose.
The current government is obsessed with central control. We will liberate teachers from the targets that distort and damage our educational system.
At the heart of Conservative policy on schools is the importance we attach to discipline. Without it, students can't learn and teachers can't teach. The ultimate sanction, permanent exclusion, has been distorted under the current government. Schools exclude children, only to be forced to take them back again by an appeals body.
We know that schools do not exclude children lightly. It is a very serious thing to do. When it's done, their decision should be respected. Under us, teachers and schools will have the final say over exclusions - we will not let anyone force an unwanted student on a school, as happens now.
Education is about more than the knowledge that should be passed on to the young. It's also about exploring and learning to work together. The wider role of school life is also addressed by Conservative education policy.
We will give head teachers the ability to require parents to sign a document explaining that they accept the inherent risks of school trips. At present, schools face increasingly large payouts if accidents occur, leading in many cases to the abandonment of school trips.
Like our country, education under Blair is heading in the wrong direction. Conservative policy over the next five years will restore freedom to teachers and students: we believe that, if only they’re left alone, this approach will lead to better education in Britain. They know better than those who interfere from outside how to get things right.
Liberal Democrats: Education spokesman Phil Willis
Ensuring a top class education system for our children is one of government's most important tasks - for the sake of our society, for the sake of our economy and for the sake of each individual's personal fulfilment.
Smaller class sizes create a better learning environment and help foster better behaviour within the classroom, which is why we will reduce Key Stage One class sizes to an average 20, and Key Stage Two class sizes to an average of 25. Our £9.4bn capital investment in primary schools will ensure there are modern facilities and adequate space to accommodate these extra classes.
Children in smaller classes do better in maths and literacy in their first year of school. And smaller class sizes give teachers more time with individual children - supporting one-on-one learning, engaging them in learning from the start, which in turn means they are less likely to play up in the classroom or play truant on the streets.
We want all children to be taught by specialists and we will guarantee that every secondary school teacher expected to teach any lessons in English, maths, science, ICT and modern languages has access to appropriate training and professional development.
We remain committed to the fundamental principles of Sir Mike Tomlinson’s recommendations. We do not want to scrap the content of A Levels and GCSEs but incorporate those programmes of study and build on them within the structure of a new diploma. All our young people deserve the opportunity to select from a broader range of programmes so that they leave their schools and colleges with the best combination of knowledge and skills to succeed in the 21st century.
And both sixth formers and college students studying for the same exams must have the same funding. We are committed to eliminating the disparity in funding between colleges and schools offering the same courses. And for young people choosing to study towards a degree, we will scrap tuition fees and top-up fees so that a place at university is based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay.
The above texts are edited versions of articles which first appeared in The House Magazine.
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