Education - The bigger picture

Home educators are quite rightly up in arms over the recent review carried out by Graham Badman and used by Ed Balls to justify imposition of draconian measures for monitoring and control over how parents will be permitted to educate their children.

However, I've had a nagging feeling that this is part of a divide and conquer strategy that seeks to ensure that ALL children are indoctrinated according to the policies of the state regardless of the culture and beliefs of the family.

I now read about the 'apprenticeships, skills, children and learning bill' which gives 153 instances of new powers to Ed Balls and John Denham as the two secretaries of state in the bill's sponsoring departments.

Whilst politicians are paying lipservice to voters by promising devolution of power from the centre to the people, this bill gives central government more control than ever before over what and how our children are allowed to learn.

The bill gives the secretary of state the right to define, for example:-

the content of certificates for apprenticeships

to stipulate which courses, other than maths, English and ICT, students aged 16 to 19 should be entitled to study

to direct a local authority to "provide information about accountable resources held, received or expended" by its schools

to specify the maximum amount of compensation that an employee is entitled to should his or her employer be found by an employment tribunal to have illegally denied him or her the right to training

to stipulate, for qualifications for young people aged 19 or over, the minimum level of attainment in literacy and numeracy needed "to operate effectively in day-to-day life".

the power to set "minimum requirements" for qualifications including, potentially, the ability to specify which textbooks pupils study.

It gives 22 powers to the secretary of state in relation to a new quango, the Young People's Learning Agency for England, including the right to direct its actions, and 32 similar ones relating to the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, which is to replace the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Ofqual supervision

Even Ofqual, which is being set up to be independent of ministers and will report to parliament, will have to be aware of 15 powers given to Balls and his successors in relation to its work. These include the ability of the secretary of state "to direct areas of government policy to which Ofqual must have regard in performing its functions" and to appoint the first chief executive.

Ed Balls will be able to direct local authorities to issue "warning notices" if he believes standards are unacceptably low, to replace governing bodies and even to intervene when local authorities are deemed unlikely to be effective in improving schools "which may in the future be low-performing" (not necessarily low performaing now but may do so in the future!).

Never before have politicians had so much power, not only to deal with current issues but increasingly to determine that there may be a FUTURE problem and wade in to deal with it as they see fit. Sounds increasingly like Orwells concept of 'mind crime' with big brother overseeing everything we do, say or even think!

We have to oppose these efforts to micro manage our lives and take away our freedom to live our lives or even to think 'wrong thoughts'.


READ MORE at:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/02/education-bill-ed-balls
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/feb/25/schools.edballs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2009/mar/13/lords-balls-red-tape