Local Lib Dems welcome new policy for schools (Bradford Liberal Democrats)

Bradford Liberal Democrats <info@bradfordlibdems.org.uk>

Local Lib Dems welcome new policy for schools

February 9, 2009 12:08 PM

Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats would put more money into education

Cllr David Ward , the Liberal Democrats spokesperson on education in Bradford District has welcomed the new proposals to put more money into education.

According to research released recently, an extra £2,430 would be needed for each pupil who gets free school meals to bring the level of spending per head up to that in private schools. 18,028 pupils received free school meals in the district and this cost £43.8 million.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said that radical new education policies were needed to fix inequalities in Britain's 'class-based education system.'

The plans would narrow the gap between the state and private sector, raising funding for the most disadvantaged pupils to private school levels and delivering extra money to cut infant class sizes to 15.

The proposals will reverse decades of standardisation and centralisation. In its place, more freedoms would be granted to schools, and power would be devolved from national government to local authorities and to an independent Educational Standards Authority.

Key policies in the paper, Equity and Excellence: Policies for 5-19 Education in English Schools and Colleges, include:

· Providing funding to cut class sizes for children aged 5-7 to private school levels of around 15 children per class

· Introducing a Pupil Premium to bring the funding levels for one million disadvantaged pupils immediately up to private school levels

· Using the Pupil Premium to extend the length of the school day, fund more one-to-one reading and maths teaching, attract the best teachers to the most challenging schools, and to cut class sizes

· Restoring confidence in standards by establishing an independent Educational Standards Authority

· Passing an Education Freedom Act to reduce the power of central government, replacing the 600 page National Curriculum with a 20 page Minimum Curriculum Guarantee, and extending the powers to innovate possessed by Academies to all schools

· Introducing a new model of Sponsor Managed Schools, to allow local authorities to commission educational charities and private providers to run maintained schools, subject to proper accountability, with a level playing field for all state schools on issues such as funding and admissions