Ideas for an Education Manifesto

The General Election is upon us and the Labour Party is calling for all stakeholders to contribute to the manifesto process. Here are some ideas from the SEA:

Education Policies for the Labour Manifesto 2017 from the Socialist Educational Association

Labour should commit to:

• Maintaining a national schools funding formula but raising funding levels overall so all schools can meet the extra costs facing them.
• Raising the pay of school staff so it is again comparable with other graduate professions and properly addressing teachers’ excessive workload.
• Restoring the ethos of “every child matters” and ensuring that the provision is there to support it.
• In particular, restoring the sure start network to support families and children in the early years.
• Engaging schools, universities, employers, trade unions and parents in a long term review of what is taught in schools so that young people can gain the knowledge, skills, creativity and personal qualities needed to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
• As part of an overall restructure of local and regional government, devolving responsibility for planning the provision of school places and monitoring school performance and financial management to local elected bodies.
• Maintaining the ban on any new academic selection and committing over time to phasing out selective systems where they still exist.
• Reforming the admissions system so as to ensure that the intakes of all comprehensive schools are properly representative of their local community.
• Radically reducing the pressure on both children and teachers caused by too much testing and by punitive inspection systems.
• Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to develop new skills throughout life and can meet the challenges of rapid economic and social change.
• Providing long term support to schools in areas where achievement is low as part of a comprehensive regeneration programme.
• Respecting research and evidence and listening to both professionals and families before launching new policies.