Draft legislation from the government on academy schools marks the beginning of “forced privatisation” according to the Green Party’s education spokesperson.
Vix Lowthion, who was announced as part of the party’s new Green Cabinet in February [1], believes there’s “no evidence” that academy schools are able to boost school standards and reiterated her party’s commitment to ending the “failed academy program”.
Lowthion said:
“The forced privatisation of every school in England began in earnest when the government announced draft legislation in March to force all schools to become academies.
“At a time when we desperately need stability in our schools, the modernisation of our national curriculum and greater accountability to parents and communities, all of this is set to be ditched in the quest of giving away all our schools to private businesses to run.
“The Green Party is committed to ending the wasteful and failed academy program, and taking all schools into local authority control – where they are accountable to the community and not large private organisations.
“There is no evidence that becoming an academy boosts standards in our schools. In fact, some parts of the country where you find the lowest test results – such as the Isle of Wight – have had for years nearly every secondary school converted as an academy. If standards are not to be raised by this move, then what is the motivation for our government?”
Referring to specific examples of forced “academisation”, Lowthion said:
“On the Isle of Wight, parents failed to save a small primary school from closure at the end of 2015 – only four years since it was awarded academy status as part of a program to keep it open. Staff and pupils at Weston Academy Primary School, run by multi-academy trust AET, were given just three months’ notice of its closure, only days after they began the academic year.
“Forcing academisation will have financial consequences for our smallest primary schools and threaten their future viability. We should instead be concentrating on raising standards, retaining good teachers with improved work-life balance and creating happy and thriving learning environments for our young people. There is no evidence that academies do any of this. I will oppose every forced conversion and support every school in England who must challenge this damaging piece of legislation.”
ENDS
Notes:
[1] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2016/02/11/green-party-announces-2016-2017-spokespeople/