Failing schools will be banned from expanding, under the Conservatives’ education proposals.
The Tory manifesto states that ministers will bar councils from creating new places at schools that have been rated “inadequate” or “requires improvement” by Ofsted, the regulator.
It also pledges to create online maps which will allow parents to compare the quality of teaching, results and the curriculum in order to “support their decisions” over which schools they choose for their
The announcements are among a raft of pledges covering schools and universities contained in the Conservative manifesto.
The Tories said they would increase the overall schools budget by £4 billion by 2022, as well as continuing to create a “fairer” way of distributing funding across the country. Theresa May will hope that the announcement of an increase in spending will ease the concerns of some Tory backbenchers who feared their areas could lose out under the reformulation of the funding system.
A Conservative government would also press ahead with the free schools scheme, creating at least 100 new free schools a year, the manifesto states.
Also contained in the document is confirmation that a future Conservative government would lift the ban on grammar schools. New grammar schools will be allowed to created under certain conditions, such as allowing pupils to join at other ages as well as eleven.
The announcement came after Theresa May wrote in the Telegraph in March that the reversal of the 1998 ban on grammar schools would “remove the barriers that prevent more good faith-based free schools from opening, and it will enable the creation of new selective free schools so that the most academically-gifted children get the specialist support to fulfil their potential regardless of their family income or background.”
In an effort to attract and retain more teachers in all schools, the Conservatives will also offer “forgiveness” on student loan repayments to teachers while they remain in the profession.
The manifesto also confirmed that the Tories would replace the current system of free school lunches for children in their first three years of primary school, with free school breakfasts for all primary school pupils.
Responding to the announcements, Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “The Conservatives’ headline pledge to give £4 billion to schools is an inadequate response to the funding crisis and a misleading presentation.
“Instead they are actually promising to give only £1 billion per year, which is clearly not enough when schools are facing a £3bn real terms cut in their funding. In contrast the Liberal Democrats are pledging to put in £3 billion per year and Labour £6.3 billion per year by 2020/21. The difference is stark.”
[“source-ndtv”]
