faith in politics
education
Background
- Education continues to have a high profile in politics. The accent is on raising standards in all sectors and ensuring that the considerable recent investment in education pays dividends.
- There is now an expectation that there will be legislative programmes introduced in every session of parliament, with a proportionate increase in regulatory burden for schools and institutions.
- The 2008/2009 report from OFSTED highlights how education is now seen as a broad spectrum ranging through childcare, schools, learning and skills, to children's social care and local authority children's services. The report speaks encouragingly of sustained improvement throughout the sector but highlights the high proportion of provision which is mediocre or worse.
- There has also been a trend of improvement in colleges of further education; again, more colleges are now outstanding and fewer are inadequate than was the case four years ago.
- Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and the academies programme suggest that improvement is being driven by an increasing diversity of providers and changes to systems and structure.
- Student tuition fees in higher education were introduced in 2006 at £3,000 pa and have increased in line with inflation each year since. The feared drop in applicants from lower socio-economic groups did not happen, nor did the intended ‘market' in fees develop, with almost all universities charging the full amount.
Issues
- Impact of reduced spending - After an unprecedented investment in school and college buildings, in the current economic climate the present levels of expenditure are unsustainable. Reduced revenue will inevitably compromise the quest for increased standards and scope for efficiency savings are limited.
- The purposes of education - The current drive for increased standards may be regarded as overwhelmingly a quest for skills for the economy. The holistic purposes of education need to be re-examined and restated.
- Diversity of provision - The academies programme and recent proposals to create ‘accredited school providers' suggest an increasing trend towards diversifying provision away from local authorities.
- Pressures on the workforce - Increased levels of scrutiny, reporting and monitoring are putting considerable pressure on teachers and school leaders. This can detract from the core purpose of teaching and learning. This applies equally to schools, childcare provision and colleges.
- Succession planning and leadership - It is getting increasingly hard to recruit high calibre heads and senior school leaders. This is particularly marked in primary schools in rural areas. There needs to be a focus on how to secure high quality school leadership into the future.
- Curriculum - Important issues for the future include: the nature and shape of the primary curriculum; the role, structure and delivery of personal, social, health, citizenship and religious education; and the balance between vocational and academic education.
- Student Fees - If the current maximum does increase significantly, then a ‘market' may ensue, with the 'elite' universities charging more and poorer students being deterred from applying.
Questions
- How can an effective education system be achieved if spending is reduced?
- How much diversity should be accepted in the overall system? What is the outlook for schools with a religious foundation?
- How can teachers and others be relieved of both bureaucracy and over-regulation?
- What should be the focus of moral, spiritual and social education?
- What would increase the effectiveness of primary education, particularly in achieving basic literacy and numeracy?
- What should the balance be between academic and vocational education?
- How can we ensure that that fees and support costs in higher education do not disadvantage the poor?
Further information
The Revd Janina Ainsworth, Chief Education Officer,
Education Division, The Church of England
Contact: email 
Website 
Please note: the views and analysis outlined in this paper are those of the author alone and do not constitute a statement of policy on the part of the organisation the author belongs to.
Faith in Politics: Acknowledgement and thanks
