Restoring Pride in Our Public Services: - The report of the Conservative Party’s Public Services Improvement Policy Group

Commenting on the review group’s proposal for education, Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Britain’s largest teachers’ union said:

“I regret the fact that the report’s education proposals are predicated on the idea of a failed education system. Whilst schools face problems, they have demonstrated very real success in the last 10 years. That should have been recognised.

“The report also seems obsessed with choice and diversity of different types of school. Dismantling the local authority family of schools would be a disaster for youngsters and communities alike. What parents want is a good local school for every child.

“I welcome, however, the report’s positive proposals for the future of the teaching profession itself and for a professional voice at the heart of Government. The group has taken the welcome decision to question the current overblown regime of tests, targets and tables. Rightly it calls for the removal of the bureaucracy currently submerging teachers and for teachers to be backed on school discipline.

“In short the report has obscured some creative thinking with a prejudiced commitment to failed ideas of  marketisation”.
 
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