NUT on government response to Wolf report

12 May 2011

Commenting on the Secretary of State's oral statement responding to the recommendations of the Wolf Report, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

“Yet again we hear the tired old assertion that vocational courses presently offered are the easy option for schools and students. This is simply not the case. The Government's belief that the English Baccalaureate will address this, despite having no provision for vocational subjects, is nonsense and reinforces the idea that anything other than a traditional academic route is the poor relation.

“Similarly the championing of University Technical Colleges will merely reinforce the idea of a 'two tier' education system and force young people to make a decision about their futures at far too early an age. What we need to see is an overarching diploma that will embrace both academic and vocational courses in a way that is recognised and respected by everyone.

“It is extremely disappointing that Michael Gove proposes to introduce yet more measures to feed into league tables by assessing the performance of both higher and lower attaining pupils. No amount of tweaking alters the fact that league tables have a distorting effect on pupils' learning. We need to move away from this unnecessary and ineffective way of measuring a school's progress, not add to it.

“Evidence from PISA shows that grade repetition has a negative impact on attainment. Therefore, we would welcome having an input into the consultation on alternative qualifications in maths and English that Michael Gove says will take place this summer.

“With the reduction of the Educational Maintenance Allowance the idea of continuing in education up to 18 is now unachievable for many students, and for them this is an irrelevant debate. These are 'the basics' that this Government needs to grasp if we are to offer all our students an equal chance in life.”

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