Press Release
The National Challenge
10 June 2008
Commenting on Ed Balls’ launch of the National Challenge for secondary schools, Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe’s largest teaching union said;
“The commitment of £400 million pounds to a group of secondary schools in challenging circumstances is obviously a major plus point in the Secretary of State’s statement. Resources are needed for the challenge that social and economic deprivation creates. Indeed local authorities have a vital responsibility to help facilitate staff sharing ideas and innovation.
“Where I part company with the Secretary of State is his view that somehow you can enhance the commitment, enthusiasm and innovatory capacity of teachers by threatening them with the closure of their schools if they don’t meet an arbitrary target.
“The National Challenge should be about saying to teachers that it is a career advantage to work in schools in challenging circumstances not a career threat.
“Teachers in these schools will have gone the extra mile for youngsters entering secondary schools, who may have started caring little about learning and education. For those youngsters to achieve four GCSEs, for example, may be a huge achievement, nothing in Ed Balls’ target recognises that.
“Academies and Trust School status are not the solution. If local authorities, according to Ed Balls are key to providing support, then what sense does it make to separate them from the local authority family of schools?
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