5 education pledges I want to see from the Labour Party

Up to now, Miliband has toyed at the edges of education, with no real commitment to how it will be funded or delivered. With Osborne’s budget (not to mention the election) fast approaching, Labour must commit. And to secure the votes of students it must commit to a series of offers for Further and Higher education that inspire and transform the sector. Here’s the five I most want to hear:

1. Investment in part-time learning

The number of part time Higher Education applicants has dropped by 34% since fees increased, and institutions have been cutting back on courses. This has had a huge impact on demographics in universities, since students who choose part time routes are often working class, women and caring students.

Most part time learners also work. This should be a pillar of Miliband’s Jobs Guarantee, offering free education to the unemployed rather than sanctioning them in to full time work. DfE and BIS should incentivise universities and colleges to run part-time courses by subsidising them and replacing the 24+ loans system with a grant.

2. Grants

Labour has previously committed to bringing back the Education Maintenance Allowance, a grant for 16-19 year olds. The Party should go even further still and extend this to all learners. This means not limited by age, qualification or immigration status and taking in to account the real cost of living. We need an offer that brings students out of poverty – with decent grants for FE and HE that aren’t repayable, but seen as an extension of the welfare state and an acknowledgement that education is time away from work.

3. Creative courses in the core curriculum

In the last four years, we have seen some subjects are favoured while others viewed as worthless. As a result of the Gove project, 14% fewer students have chosen arts and design in their GCSE options.

Harriet Harman has already made a clear commitment to promoting creative subjects in schools, but needs to highlight how this will be implemented.

Labour should also commit to reversing the government’s cut to the 18 year old fundingstream for FE. This cut will result in course closures, with a disproportionate impact on creative courses; such as Foundation degrees.

4. Scrap league tables

Teaching unions have for many years argued for the need to abolish league tables for the sake of students, teachers and the sector. The focus on competition leads to a narrowing of the curriculum, with more pressure put on meeting targets than meeting the needs of students.

Leagues uphold a marketised model of education. The proportion of students who achieve A-C grades can bump an institution up, yet do nothing to reflect the varying pedagogical approaches being applied. They also instill a market mentality in students, where their peers are viewed not as collaborators but competitors; vying against one another for future University places and job offers.

Instead of following the Government’s position of picking and choosing which qualifications make the table – Labour should dismantle them altogether.

5. Free education

Education funded by students paying only for what they specifically ‘received’, either through a graduate tax or £6k fees, is an individualist model.

The only way to live up to the ‘Promise of Britain’ is to build a sustainable system that is based on collectivism: where those who benefit economically from an educated society pay for it, not those who happen to access it. This means further and higher education funded through progressive taxation, specifically levied on the wealthiest individuals and the corporations with the largest profits.

Labour recently looked to Germany with its commitment to introduce technical degrees. Let’s hope the Party is looking to the country for a funding policy, too; since Germany recently re-introduced free education.

The National Union of Students support it, Labour Party members support it, the public support it. Free education is a vote winner.