Education Bill will 'reduce pupil rights'

27 January 2011

Commenting on the Education Bill, Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union said;

"Despite the education secretary's claims that he wants to remove the 'dead hand' of government from schools, this Bill appears to do exactly the opposite and will lead to a greater centralisation of power.

"By presuming any new school which opens will do so as an academy or Free School, the government makes it clear that regardless of the wishes of the community, it intends to railroad this costly, unproven and unnecessary programme through.

"No longer requiring school governing bodies to have staff and local authority elected governors on their board, will lead to schools becoming less democratically accountable in how they are run.

"If the role of the local authority and the Schools Adjudicator is weakened we will end up with an admissions free for all. This is a gift to academies and Free Schools which will be even less responsive and accountable in terms of both admissions and complaints.

"It is ironic, given Michael Gove's declared interest in reducing child poverty and the importance of early years intervention, that the Bill will allow maintained nursery schools and classes to charge for any provision over the 15 free hours. This will widen the gap between schools serving affluent areas where parents can afford to pay, and the rest, and may well lead to closures where they are most needed.

"We welcome protection for teachers and the intention to remove bureaucracy but, as ever, the devil will be in the detail. While the GTCE didn't exactly win the hearts and minds of teachers there is no mention of what it will be replaced by. It will however be a problem if it is the secretary of state, who will then be acting as judge and jury for the teaching profession.

"We are pleased that the government has responded to our calls for safeguards for teachers facing allegations. False complaints have a devastating impact on innocent teachers, who may find themselves outcast within their community, but this can be reduced if anonymity is retained and delays in the system are removed. The plans are a small but important step forward.

"No one thinks a violent pupil should remain in school but head teachers already have the power to exclude such pupils. If a parent is adamant that their child returns to the school they can still go for a judicial review so it won't completely resolve the issue.

"This Bill rides roughshod over the premise of a democratically accountable education system. It will see the rights of parents and pupils vastly reduced and it is a backward step for society."

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