Vox Pop: Will free schools further deepen the social divide?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Criticism has been levelled at the government's education plans after an announcement of the first free schools revealed a low take-up.
NO - TOBY YOUNG, member of the steering committee, West London Free School
The biggest divide in English education is between the private and state sector. Free schools, which will be independently run but taxpayer-funded, will provide a bridge between those two.
Something has to be done to close the attainment gap between state schools and private schools, and I believe free schools can do precisely that.
Provided they are subject to school admissions criteria, which they will be, they will benefit all children, not just the progeny of those who set them up.
YES - CHRIS KEATES, general secretary, NASUWT
The free schools programme is based on a flawed and ideological premise that will lead to fragmented communities and greater social segregation.
Michael Gove said that he wanted to create a free schools movement. However, the British people do not agree. In a recent Ipsos Mori poll, 96 per cent of parents and the public stated that they opposed the coalition government's free schools policy.
Parents want their children to go to good local schools run by democratically accountable local councils because they are rooted within their communities, not divided from them.
NO - LESLEY SURMAN, spokeswoman, BBG Parents' Alliance
Free schools are a radical opportunity to change our education system for the better, offering a real chance for many disadvantaged pupils presently forced to attend poor or mediocre schools.
For years, politicians have promised to close this social divide and throughout the country they, in conjunction with the education system, have failed many children thus increasing the divide across our society.
Free schools will be run by those committed to delivering quality education and dedicated to ensuring all children have the opportunity of educational success.
YES - Christine Blower, general secretary, National Union of Teachers
Michael Gove's evangelising of free schools rests on the entirely false premise that they helped reduce the social divide in Sweden. The Swedish education minister has recently argued the opposite.
It is now almost universally agreed that Finland has the best education system in Europe. Its schools reach the ideal, resulting in both the highest standards and the greatest equity, and yet there is no competition at all within the Finnish school system.
To ensure fairness for all, the government needs to focus on ensuring every child has a good local school operating within the local authority family.