What would the Liberal Democrats do for schools?

By Jim Sweetman / @jimbo9848

Given some of the current polls, perhaps we should decide to take the Liberal Democrats seriously. So, what are they offering on education, is it consistent, and how are they going to pay for it?

The big headline is that they want to stop politicians meddling in schools. A new Education Freedom Act would stop schools from being subject to the whims of politicians. It would be backed up by an independent Education Standards Authority.

The first thing to ask about the Education Freedom Act is do we really need it? Like it or not, politicians are accountable for educational spending and for what goes on in schools. Most Liberal Democrats would be delighted to see politicians influencing decisions on entrance examinations, sex education for all, the teaching of foreign languages, cyber bullying and the presentation of fundamentalism in biology. Arguably, these are where national interests come before local – and if national politicians do not intervene in education then, inevitably, local politicians will.

Even as an idea, the Education Standards Authority already sounds like a toothless quango. If politicians are not going to intervene in schools there is not much point in being told where they are going wrong. The newly established Ofqual is quite capable of having its brief extended and that would still allow the Liberal Democrats to close down the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency.

While the Liberal Democrats would follow Labour in providing one-to-one tuition and catch-up classes, they also plan, much more controversially, to find an extra £2.5 billion a year to cut class sizes to around 20 pupils in primary schools and 16 in secondary. Of course, that would be popular with teachers, although there is not the evidence that it would necessarily raise standards, but it is also a huge amount of money and would represent a continuing commitment. It could not be achieved by efficiencies and would lead to cuts elsewhere.

Alternatively, it might be argued that it makes better sense to see the ‘class’ today not as a set number of individuals but as a social group which breaks down into smaller groups for learning supported by classroom assistants and new technology. In other words, the class size argument is less important now that children, even in primary schools, are taught in all sorts of groupings. Smaller classes but with no support staff and less technology would not be progress.

Next, the Liberal Democrats want schools set free to manage the curriculum, so the current national curriculum would be replaced by a much slimmer entitlement document. That is an enticing policy when it is couched in terms of enterprise and innovation but it is worth bearing in mind that it might allow schools to reintroduce Latin and Greek, to avoid vocational diplomas and to downplay citizenship, social and health education. The new primary curriculum to be introduced from September 2010 is already a much lighter document and strong on learning and technology. A matching revision of the secondary curriculum would make more sense than throwing out the babies and the bathwater.

In secondary schools, the Liberal Democrats are looking for the teacher vote in offering to take a fresh look at the Tomlinson curriculum. Mike Tomlinson’s report on 14 to 19 education, drawn up in 2004, suggested the replacement of GCSE and A-level by a component-based diploma with a basic requirement for everyone and additional routes and pathways. There is good sense in taking a hard look at GCSE and A-level examinations. They are expensive to administer and they don’t cater properly for at least 50% of the school population but a review wasn’t possible in 2004 in the run-up to an election. It might be more feasible at the start of a new session.

Elsewhere, there is more agreement than division between the Liberal Democrat and Labour visions for education. Most people agree that the centralising agenda needs rebalancing and that schools are now better equipped than ever to stand on their own feet. Labour is slimming and updating the primary curriculum, closing down the national strategies, taking a hard look at SATs and bolstering local authorities all of which should help to meet the Liberal Democrat ambitions. In contrast, the Conservative proposals for new independent charter schools, the International GCSE and separate sciences and tougher SAT tests is a very different agenda, targeting perceived benefits for a small group of parents at the expense of the majority.