The return of grammar and secondary modern schools is inexplicable, even to many Tories.
Why the Conservatives want to bring back Grammar schools – and with them, of course, Secondary Modern schools – remains a mystery. Their claim that they want to offer parents a choice and that children would not be split into ‘winners and losers’ is nonsense. Grammar schools select their students on the results of a written test, leaving those who ‘fail’ destined to
go to a different kind of school, whether it is known as a Secondary Modern or a High school or some other made up status. Most schools today follow the national curriculum for most of their teaching and offer GCSEs at the age of sixteen. So why have a test at the age of eleven to send children to different schools?
Grammar schools are not the success some people think they are and they often stream their students, resulting in pupils in the lower-streamed classes doing badly in GCE examinations.
The Labour government attempted to end selection at eleven involving all schools but a few Councils resisted this change and maintained a Grammar school/Secondary modern system, even if they called it something else. Labour made a mistake in 1997 by not to ending selection at eleven altogether and there are currently still 163 Grammar schools out of over 3000 secondary schools. The Labour government called for no more selection but did not insist on ending selection where it existed.
To end selection a referendum has now to be held. The only one that was held was in a small area with only one Grammar school and a few Secondary Modern schools. The parents in that area voted to keep their Grammar school and this was one of Tony Blair’s misjudgments.
Political parties win elections and when they do they should implement their policies. Referendums usually weaken democracy because many people who vote in them are often voting with all sorts of different agendas and no-one takes responsibility for the result. The recent referendum on the EU illustrates just how damaging a referendum can be and how it weakens democracy. Hitler used them to support his dreadful policies and this made it easier for him to bring in measures which helped to destroy democracy in Germany at the time.
The move to a national curriculum in England was a progressive one, but then the Labour Government should have made the 163 Grammar schools become all-embracing, especially as it expected all students to follow the national curriculum together with a range of options based on the needs of the students.
The Labour Party together with the support of the Liberals should have developed a much more radical policy concerning Education, including the involvement of Employers and Industry. Vocational education remains badly neglected and is seen as less important than GCSE or A level. Fluency in more than one language is increasingly essential in today’s world and the norm in the rest of Europe is that most students leave school fluent in English as well as other languages. Michael Wilshaw. the Chief Inspector has had the courage to describe a return to more selection at eleven as ‘tosh’ and ‘nonsense’. He was Headteacher of a successful boy’s school in Newham which constantly produced high GCSE results and demonstrates the weakness the Labour Labour were over not ending selection in 1997.
We need the make clear that education is not some kind of a competition where only some can succeed. The large increase in people going to universities should be proof that more can succeed with the appropriate teaching. It is time we had a Government that believed in raising standards in every area of the country and in all schools. We also need to modernise the examination system, which still relies too much on GCSE followed by a narrow range of ‘A’ levels.
Too many young people are only offered a narrow curriculum and vocational education remains a neglected area. This Conservative Government has even abolished work experience for young people and has chosen not to develop apprenticeships in the way other European countries have. Higher education is clearly important but it does not have to be mainly for 18-21 year olds and all young people should have the opportunity to have part of their education take place in another European country, which is funded by the European Commission.
Since these latest proposals effect all young people, you might expect the Labour Party to develop a radical education policy, implement locally it where it can and make sure Labour has a clear and radical vision for the country when it is elected to Government. Developing this approach would help Labour to win and therefore we should stop being ambivalent about Academy schools and make clear we believe in all local schools working together to raise standards and giving all young people the opportunities to succeed.
There is considerable disquiet amongst many Conservative Councillors and members of Parliament about what Teresa May is doing and there is no electoral mandate for bringing back selection in those areas that still have Grammar schools. There is every chance they can be defeated in Parliament, and the House of Lords has no obligation to vote for measures that were not in the election manifesto and if implemented would do untold damage.
Kent has Grammar schools and lower educational standards than similar areas with comprehensive schools. Labour with others can defeat the Government on this and as a result increase its chances of being at least the largest party at the next election.
Graham Lane is former Chair of the Local Government Association’s Education Committee