Lib Dems target ‘chasm’ of underachievement
The Liberal Democrats today said every child from the most disadvantaged backgrounds must be funded at the same level as children at private schools.
In his first speech to conference as schools spokesman, David Laws said the “chasm” between the highest and lowest achievers made him ashamed to be British and it was time to take real action to improve equality of opportunity.
He told Liberal Democrats in Brighton: “Britain now wears the badge of shame as the country where your life chances are more determined by your parents’ income than your own ability.”
Extra funding for pupils at risk of under achieving could be financed by removing Tax Credits for the higher earners – itself acting as an incentive to earn more – and directing money away from Child Trust Funds, he said.
In an attempt to carve out a distinctly Lib Dem approach to education, Mr Laws argued government should not be able to dictate how this funding is spent, but allow head teachers and governors to direct it where needed.
This was followed by a wider commitment to allow head teachers to innovate and experiment beyond the curriculum.
But Mr Laws argued the party had to strike the balance between freeing children from examinations and the national curriculum and retaining accountability, transparency and standards.
Acknowledging the increasing criticisms of the exam system he called for the scrapping of the government’s Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. This would be replaced by an independent Educational Standards Authority, designed to restore confidence in the examination system.
With a mantra to empower citizens, Mr Laws called for the total abandonment of selection, covert or stated, in all state schools.
He told the conference: “Schools should not have the soft option of picking the best pupils. It should be the parents and pupils who are empowered to choose their schools.
“Choice is not a dirty word: it is one of the essential freedoms in a liberal society.”
The Pupil Premium – targeting investment at the most disadvantaged children – would encourage schools to accept the most challenging pupils, he added.
Liberal Democrats yesterday approved the Pupil Premium in the poverty and inequality policy paper, as Gordon Brown’s failure to address the gap between the rich and the poor becomes a persistent theme at this year’s Liberal Democrat conference.
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