Update: education

Changes to fees and increasing challenges

The recent changes in tuition fees for universities and the abrupt end of the education maintenance allowance are indicative of a society that no longer values its educators and its students. These changes will have far-reaching consequences which will only serve to dissuade those less fortunate to incur the costs of accessing good education.

There is of course a difference between good education and mediocre education, and in this age of meritocracy students have a hope of improving their standard of life with good education. Education has now become a commodity and there is a strong argument that it is the more fortunate and more affluent families that will have the luxury of a good education.

From a legal perspective there is already a trend that litigation is increasing against further and higher education institutions. Students are inclined to sue for services that do not meet their expectations. The consumer mindset is obvious and perhaps confirmed by the increased number of complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA).

Students expect their teaching to be of a high standard, for provision of IT services and libraries to meet their expectations. Where, traditionally, it was taboo to challenge a senior lecturer renowned in his field, today there is a blanket expectation that the senior lecturer will fulfil his side of the bargain when it comes to the quality of teaching.

Failing to be available during an 'open office' session, failing to respond to emails promptly or failing to provide feedback on supervision in writing can all lead to serious legal consequences and allegations of negligence or breach of contract. Litigation and legal challenge is being seen by the student community as a natural by-product of the education environment.

It is of considerable interest that the courts are slow to interfere with decisions of the OIA. This is clearly an approach that, if sustained, will ensure that the increasing number of students wishing to challenge their education institutions will not bring cases to the courts. There are also serious cost consequences to students and institutions alike in bringing fully blown litigation in the courts. The OIA has no cost implications to the student, except time, but is able to consider wide-ranging complaints from inadequate teaching to failure to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students.

Schools white paper

The schools white paper, formally called The Importance of Teaching, was published on 24 November 2010. The white paper has been deemed a 'radical reform' of the teaching profession by the government; whereas others have labelled it a 'declaration of war on the teaching establishment'; and others have not been as impressed by the proposed reforms and have simply stated that it is 'not quite as radical as we were led to expect it might be'.

The white paper draws on case studies from the world's best education systems in an attempt to learn from and imitate their successes so that the English education system can become world class.

In the foreword to the white paper, the education secretary says: 'We know that nothing matters more in improving education than giving every child access to the best possible teaching. There is no calling more noble, no profession more vital and no service more important than teaching. It is because we believe in the importance of teaching '“ as the means by which we liberate every child to become the adult they aspire to be '“ that this white paper has been written. The importance of teaching cannot be overstated.'

The key aims that the paper sets out to achieve are to free teachers from constraint and improve their professional status and authority; to raise the standards set by the curriculum and qualifications to match the best in the world; to hold schools effectively to account for the results they achieve; to ensure that school funding is fair, with more money for the most disadvantaged; and to support teachers to learn from one another and from proven best practice. These aims are expected to be achieved by reforms under the following headings:

Teaching and leadership

'The evidence from around the world shows us that the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of a school system is the quality of its teachers.'

The government proposes to continue to raise the quality of new entrants to the teaching profession. This will be achieved by various methods. One example is developing the Teach First Scheme to incorporate Teach Next which will be a new employment-based route to attract 'high fliers' from other professions. Another example is encouraging armed forces leavers to become teachers, by developing a Troops to Teachers programme which will sponsor service leavers to train as teachers.

There is also to be a reform of initial teacher training. This reform will include an increase in the proportion of time that trainees spend in the classroom and there will also be a greater focus on the essential teaching skills such as teaching reading and mathematics and in the management of behaviour.

There will be a reduction in the bureaucratic burden on schools which will remove unnecessary processes, duties and even guidance. It is hoped that this reduction in bureaucracy will permit the schools to focus on the immediate needs and doing what is right for the children in their care.

Behaviour

'Among undergraduates the most common reason for not entering the profession is fear of not being safe in the school and poor discipline is forcing teachers out of the classroom.'

The government has proposed that there should be greater powers for keeping order and discipline to include strengthened powers to search pupils, extending the head teacher's authority to maintain discipline beyond the school gates and including the ability to issue same-day detentions.

There are also plans to change the current system of Independent Appeal Panels for exclusions. It is proposed that they should take less time and at the outcome of proceedings head teachers will no longer have to worry that a pupil will be reinstated when the young person concerned has committed a serious offence. In conjunction with this, there are plans to trial a new approach to exclusions where schools have new responsibilities for the ongoing education and care of excluded children.

Curriculum and assessment

'We propose to take a new approach to the curriculum, which affirms the importance of teaching and creates scope for teachers to inspire. We want the NC to be a benchmark not a straitjacket, a body of knowledge against which achievement can be measured.'

The government has proposed a review of the primary and secondary National Curriculum. This is with the aim of allowing schools the freedom to decide how to teach. Dame Clare Tickell has been commissioned to review how the Early Years Foundation Stage prepares children for school '“ a report is due in Spring 2011.

There are also plans to introduce the English Baccalaureate. The English Baccalaureate will encourage schools to offer broad range of academic subjects. It will be awarded to students who secure good GCSE or iGCSE passes in English, mathematics, the sciences, a modern or ancient foreign language and a humanity. There are also proposals to raise the age that young people will be expected to participate in education or training to 18 by 2015.

The new school system

'Across the world, the case for the benefits of school autonomy has been established beyond doubt. In a school system with good-quality teachers, flexibility in the curriculum and clearly established accountability measures, it makes sense to devolve as much day-to-day decision making as possible to the frontline.'

The government proposes to increase freedom and autonomy for all schools by, as stated above, removing unnecessary duties and burdens but also by allowing all schools to choose for themselves how best to develop. For example, the ability to determine school hours as is the case with academies.

There are also plans to dramatically extend the academies programme. All schools, both primary and secondary, that wish to benefit from academy freedoms will be able to do so providing that they work in partnership with a high-performing school that will help support improvement, or another sponsor.

Accountability

'We believe that public services will improve most when professionals feel free to do what they believe is right, and are properly accountable for the results.'

Again, the key theme with regard to accountability is creating a more autonomous school system by reducing duties, requirements and guidance and making sure that all schools can over time enjoy the freedoms that academies currently have.

The government has also stated plans to put far more information (including amount allocated per pupil, admissions etc.) into the public domain, so that it is possible to understand a school's performance more fully than is currently possible.

There are also plans to introduce a new 'floor standard' for primary and secondary schools. This will set an escalating minimum expectation for attainment. For secondary schools, a school will be below the floor if fewer than 35 per cent of pupils achieve the 'basics' standard of five A*-C grade GCSEs including English and mathematics, and fewer pupils make good progress between key stage two and key stage four than the national average. For primary schools, a school will be below the floor if fewer than 60 per cent of pupils achieve the 'basics' standard of level four in both English and mathematics and fewer pupils than average make the expected levels of progress between key stage one and key stage two.

Funding

'Over recent years, government has tended to use highly centralised approaches to improving schools'¦ government should certainly put in place the structures and processes which will challenge and support schools to improve'¦ But it should be clear that the primary responsibility for improvement rests with schools.'

The government proposes to target more resources on the most deprived pupils over the next four years, through a new 'pupil premium'. The government stated that it would be spending £2.5bn per year on the pupil premium by the end of the spending review period.

Proposals have also been made to consult on developing and introducing a clear, transparent and fairer national funding formula based on the needs of pupils, to work alongside the pupil premium. However, while this is developing it was proposed that there would be an increase in the transparency of the current funding system by showing both how much money schools receive on a school-by-school basis and how they spend their funds. The white paper also documented plans to devolve the maximum amount of funding to schools.