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| The Tories’ absurd school regime can’t even set a spelling test | |
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| Anyone seeking a foretaste of David Cameron’s proposed national schools service need look no further than this week’s primary school test fiasco. The government has had to withdraw its new exam for six- and seven-year-olds because the questions on grammar, punctuation and spelling were leaked online. | |
| So-called “academisation” is supposed to liberate schools from inefficient local bureaucracy, leaving them to decide for themselves how children should be taught. They would enter the sunny uplands of independence. Like hell. | So-called “academisation” is supposed to liberate schools from inefficient local bureaucracy, leaving them to decide for themselves how children should be taught. They would enter the sunny uplands of independence. Like hell. |
| The performance of a school should be a matter for teachers, governors, parents and local leaders | The performance of a school should be a matter for teachers, governors, parents and local leaders |
| Ever since Thatcher, Whitehall has craved a return to the days of commissioners ruling the earth, as satirised by Charles Dickens in Hard Times. It has tried city techs, academies, specialist schools, “free” schools, anything to exclude local communities from their most-prized task: the schooling of their young. For a quarter century, councils have fought to keep a toe-hold on a dwindling number of secondary schools, over half of which are now academies. | Ever since Thatcher, Whitehall has craved a return to the days of commissioners ruling the earth, as satirised by Charles Dickens in Hard Times. It has tried city techs, academies, specialist schools, “free” schools, anything to exclude local communities from their most-prized task: the schooling of their young. For a quarter century, councils have fought to keep a toe-hold on a dwindling number of secondary schools, over half of which are now academies. |
| There is no evidence that such a change has worsened or improved schools, though it has been expensive. It is not governance but teaching that makes a school good. | There is no evidence that such a change has worsened or improved schools, though it has been expensive. It is not governance but teaching that makes a school good. |
| Control of all school building, planning and staffing now passes to Whitehall. It will become responsible for school admissions, appointments and standards, through a new network of regional commissioners, centrally appointed. Any one who knows the working of the NHS will realise what this means. No one is truly accountable. Batteries of rules, regulations, test and targets are drawn up. Money is wasted. Above all, the planning of capacity will lose touch with local reality. As when the NHS took over local hospitals, centralisation is a leap from the bureaucratic frying pan into the fire. | Control of all school building, planning and staffing now passes to Whitehall. It will become responsible for school admissions, appointments and standards, through a new network of regional commissioners, centrally appointed. Any one who knows the working of the NHS will realise what this means. No one is truly accountable. Batteries of rules, regulations, test and targets are drawn up. Money is wasted. Above all, the planning of capacity will lose touch with local reality. As when the NHS took over local hospitals, centralisation is a leap from the bureaucratic frying pan into the fire. |
| Related: Government urged to scrap test after it was published online | Related: Government urged to scrap test after it was published online |
| The idea that centralisation will liberate the curriculum from central interference is for the birds. It will become a ministerial obsession – witness Michael Gove’s recent meddling as education secretary. The chancellor himself started the rot in his budget speech. He laid down edicts on maths teaching, the length of the school day and physical education. As for testing pupils throughout their school careers, it can serve no purpose but to feed league table computers and enhance Whitehall control. | The idea that centralisation will liberate the curriculum from central interference is for the birds. It will become a ministerial obsession – witness Michael Gove’s recent meddling as education secretary. The chancellor himself started the rot in his budget speech. He laid down edicts on maths teaching, the length of the school day and physical education. As for testing pupils throughout their school careers, it can serve no purpose but to feed league table computers and enhance Whitehall control. |
| The performance of a school, like its institutional pride and role in the community, should be a matter for teachers, governors, parents and local leaders, as it is in most free countries. Now it is to come under a regime that cannot even set an exam. If such a farce were perpetrated by a local authority, Osborne would sneer, jeer and demand it be wound up. So be warned. This is what a national school service will mean. | The performance of a school, like its institutional pride and role in the community, should be a matter for teachers, governors, parents and local leaders, as it is in most free countries. Now it is to come under a regime that cannot even set an exam. If such a farce were perpetrated by a local authority, Osborne would sneer, jeer and demand it be wound up. So be warned. This is what a national school service will mean. |