Theresa May and Grammar Schools

On 11th July 2016 Theresa May took over as Prime minister, due to David Cameron’s resignation. Having been educated at a grammar school herself, May has expressed her desire to reintroduce grammar schools in the UK.

On 9th September, May announced her plans to reintroduce grammar schools and her view that schools should have the right to choose pupils based on ability. The prime minister suggested in her plan schools becoming much more selective and she thinks the ban has been in place far too long, causing a lot of controversy amongst the public. There would be £50m of new funding put towards this plan.

The chief inspector of Ofsted thinks May’s plans will `undo years of progress’ and the labour party thinks the changes will `entrench inequality’. One of the biggest worries is that poorer pupils are under-represented in grammar schools so May declared that new and expanding grammar schools will take quotas of poor pupils or grammar schools will help run other schools to help poorer students get the same opportunities.

The prime minster stated that we are `sacrificing children's potential because of dogma and ideology’ and argues that schools are already selected on house price and wealth. Additionally specialist disciplines such as music and sport can be the basis of selection so the same approach should be taken for those who are academically gifted. The plans will also include the ability for bright children to join grammar schools, not just at 11, but at 14 and 16 as well, so all age groups receive the same opportunities.

Most people assumed an Act of Parliament would be needed to end the current ban introduced by Labour in 1998, however, this is not necessary. To ensure the system is fair, a meeting will take place on how to make the tests more inclusive so it is not limited to families who can pay for tutoring in order to pass the test. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, said his party would block these proposals to end the ban and they believe it is ` dividing children on the basis of their perceived ability at the age of 11’.

GC

Browne Review

Lord Browne's review of Universities in the UK has been published, and includes the controversial recommendation that the £3290 cap on fees should be scrapped. This would allow universities to charge what they like, with the possiblity of fees of up to £12000 a year. Graduates would now not have to start paying this back until their annual salary reached £21000, up from the current level of £15000. Other proposals include the creation of a Higher Education Council to oversee standards, and that lecturers would be required to have teaching qualifications. The proposals will not necessarily be accepted in full by the government, and go clearly against the pledges made by the Liberal Democrats before the election. It will be interesting to see what happens next - what are your views?

PS: Here is a summary of the details

UPDATE: Vince Cable has suggested that the government may cap fees at £7000 but has endorsed "the main thrust" of the report. This is likely to cause disquiet amongst his Lib Dem colleagues, and can be considered a "rehearsal" for the strains that will follow the announcement of the spending review on 20 October. One final point - Cable says that the reforms will be in place in time for Autumn 2012 - ie the current Year 12 will have to deal with this...any thoughts?

Niall Ferguson and the History Curriculum

The historian Niall Ferguson has been invited by Michael Gove to overhaul the way history is taught in schools. Ferguson has spoken regularly about the need to teach the "Big Story" in history, encouraging a greater sense of chronology and connection between more popular school topics such as Henry VIII, Adolf Hitler and Martin Luther King. He is working on a four year syllabus (supported by a Channel Four series) that would emphasize in particular the rise of Western European society. Michael Gove is certainly impressed by this, although he has stopped short of supporting Ferguson's call for History to be made compulsory. Here is one response to his comments. What are your thoughts on this?

PS: Here is a comment from Martin Kettle who believes modern multicultural Britain lacks a common culture to support the sustainable teaching of a common history. Do you agree?

PPS: Here is a Daily Mail article from 2009 that believes "Trendy teaching is 'producing a generation of history numbskulls"

PPPS: The Radio 4 Programme "Analysis" has just covered this issue, asking whether Ferguson's proposals can really be a force for social cohesion. You can listen to the programme here and read a summary of it here.