For right or for wrong, the Labour Party have made much of their proposed plan to introduce VAT on private school fees. Their messaging is very clear. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting proclaimed on Question Time that Labour wants to “put the education and ambitions of kids from working class backgrounds” on a fairer footing with those in private education.
The policy is admirable. But those children in state schools, and the teachers that educate them, need more. They desperately require an overhaul of a system that overworks teachers and does not work for students. Yet, there has been conspicuously little on school reforms by either Labour or the Conservative Party.
‘Unmanageable and unsustainable‘
The current national curriculum was introduced to considerable criticism in 2014 by then Education Secretary Michael Gove. At the time, academics described it as “endless lists of spellings, facts and rules”. Ten years on, their views appear to have been vindicated. There is a sense amongst educators that they are strangled by a curriculum that prescribes unrealistic expectations for students and teachers alike, negatively impacting the well-being of teachers and the learning outcomes of pupils.
“The workload is unmanageable and unsustainable” one ex-teacher told me. “The day-to-day activities of a teacher are micromanaged to a ridiculous extent.”
Too much is being asked of teachers. Their stress is caused by a variety of factors from poor school funding to spiralling working hours, and an inappropriate curriculum is just another roadblock for teachers to deal with. The difficulties of the profession, made worse by government policy, are reflected in teacher retention rates and pay disputes. A recent study conducted by the NFER found that 44% more teachers said they intended to leave teaching in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22, a catastrophic drain on the education sector exacerbated by stalling teacher recruitment. In all facets the profession is struggling now more than ever.
What are the major parties’ plans?
Labour’s manifesto promises to recruit 6,500 teachers through reviewing the “way bursaries are allocated” and improving retention issues by examining “the structure of retention payments.” They also promise to “launch an expert-led review of curriculum and assessment” but without being specific on what exactly they would change.
The Conservative manifesto promises even less. Curriculum overhaul would appear not be a priority. Instead, they seem more invested in banning mobile phones in schools, restricting the teaching of sex education and managing truancy.
This is unlikely to be enough.
The world has changed a lot in ten years. The full impact of the COVID pandemic on education is yet to be fully understood. But initial signs are not positive. A 2022 report from the EEF found that educational attainment has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The seemingly unstoppable rise of Artificial Intelligence means children will need to be equipped to deal with AI from a younger age as it becomes an important tool in a wider range of professions. An increasingly unstable world is making the case for compulsory political education ever stronger. And events since 2020 have highlighted the dishonesty and lack of diversity in the history curriculum.
The major political parties should be pledging to address these factors head on through changing how and what children are taught. Promising reviews does not inspire sufficient confidence that this will actually happen.
There also needs to be increased teacher agency. It is clear that teachers want a system that allows for ‘more creativity, time for exploration, problem solving and critical thinking’. This fosters a positive relationship with education and also allows teachers the chance to tailor teaching for individual students without being burdened with an overly invasive system. If the government is truly concerned with the growth of the nation, now is the time for the politicians to be brave and give teachers and pupils what they need.
