Education:
Fight Blair’s Privatised Academies
THE RECENT fanfare announcement on education ‘academies’ (legislation is
already on the statute books) shows that Labour want to encourage private
schools to empire-build in the state sector.
Linda Taaffe, NUT executive (personal capacity)
Government and private school heads recently held a cosy chat. Dulwich
College, a very swish private school has, it seems, expressed interest in
running an academy in east London. How will their expertise in managing
well-heeled pupils match up to the challenging behaviour of some of our East
End kids?
Academies are a milestone in the deregulation of education. Voluntary or
private-sector sponsors are asked to stump up 20% of the capital cost for an
academy – around £2 million. The government will then provide the balance,
around £8 million to build a new school, and will then provide ALL running
costs.
A newly built, or refurbished school set up as a company limited by
guarantee will be independent, owned and controlled by a private company, but
fully funded by the state.
It is barefaced transference of public funds into private pockets; and
there’s no public control either. The sponsoring outfit is only required to
have one local education authority (LEA) representative on the governing body.
Nor is there a requirement to have a teacher governor.
But they can bring in as many of their governors as they want. In the
Capital City Academy in Brent eight out of the 13 governors are appointed by
Sir Frank Lowe, the sponsor.
Academies will have complete freedom to be flexible in all areas, in the
curriculum, in organisation like the timing of the school day, and won’t need
to keep to national pay and conditions for staff including teachers.
Bexley Business academy’s curriculum has been altered so the national
curriculum fits into a four-day week. Friday is given over to business
studies. The school has its own mini-stock exchange and trading floor. Ealing
Academy’s sponsor wants all students to adopt the vision "Me, plc".
The proposed academy in inner-city Waltham Forest, yet to be finalised, is
likely to have the speciality "life and vocational skills", or as a top
official put it, ‘Learning by doing".
Is this a euphemism for sending pupils out on extended work experience at
14 perhaps connected to a sponsor’s company interests? So far academies have
been associated with business, ICT and technology while few are based on the
arts.
The first academies have made rich pickings. The main sponsor of Walsall
and Sandwell Academies is Thomas Telford Online, which markets online maths
and technology teaching packs for a profit of £7 million.
Might not the next round, involving more working-class kids, be geared to
preparing them for a life of low-skill, low-wage jobs with attempts to
inculcate the "right" attitudes towards employers?
Academies are a full frontal attempt to roll back state education. The
National Union of Teachers vehemently opposes the privatisation of education,
and has had to fight in various academies to prevent the erosion of pay and
conditions, even for simple union recognition.
The government’s announcement came with school holidays looming – that’s
very timely from their point of view. However, a massive public campaign of
teachers and all education workers, parents and older students against this
attack is now more urgent than ever.
