15 Most Recent Stories From Liberal Democrats : Education and Skills News Feed

Fri 5th Sep 2008:

Labour has presided over collapse of school meal uptake - Laws.

Commenting on today’s [Thursday] Government plans to increase the uptake of school meals, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "It’s a bit late for ministers to be urging headteachers to tackle the problem of school lunches when Labour’s policies have triggered a collapse in secondary school take-up over the last three years. "In addition, the huge increase in food prices is in danger of causing another downward turn, particularly in secondary schools where pupils have more choice. "Headteachers have a responsibility to give pupils proper time and space to have a school lunch. But if the strategy is to be a success the Government must stop shooting itself in the foot."

EMA delays mirror SATs shambles - Laws.

Commenting on the news that Schools Secretary Ed Balls said today he was 'frustrated' by the delays to this year's Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) grants for teenagers, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "After the shambolic mismanagement of the SATs, this is yet another example of an outside company making an utter mess of delivering an important service to students. "Ministers may blame private companies for these administrative disasters, but it is the Government which is ultimately responsible for ensuring it selects firms which are capable of delivering. "It is students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds who will suffer most from yet more administrative incompetence from the Labour Government. "Ed Balls may be ‘frustrated', but his frustrations are inconsequential set aside the massive disruption for young people, schools and colleges. The Secretary of State must explain what he is actually doing to sort out this fiasco."

School until 17 law is sledgehammer approach - Laws.

Commenting on new legislation that requires children who start secondary school this week to stay in education until they are 17, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "There is a real problem with young people who do not stay on in education beyond 16, but it is typical of this Government to think the answer to the problem is to pass a new law rather than dealing with the causes. "This sledgehammer approach could damage the interests of some children who are presently able to go into employment at 16. Opportunities may be lost given the bureaucratic burdens the Government is imposing on businesses. "Ministers ought to be focussing on tackling the causes of educational failure, which are the real reasons young people end up leaving education at 16."

EMA delays mirror SATs shambles - Laws.

Commenting on the news that delays in processing Educational Maintenance Allowances, affecting up to 150,000 teenagers, have forced a further education college to use its own money to give financial support to students, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "After the shambolic management of the SATs, this is yet another example of an outside company making an utter mess of delivering an important service to students. "Ministers may blame private companies for these administrative disasters, but it is the Government which is ultimately responsible for ensuring it selects firms which are capable of delivering. "It should not be necessary for hard pressed colleges to fund the educational maintenance allowance out of their own resources. The Secretary of State must immediately sort out this fiasco."

Mon 1st Sep 2008:

Continued SATs delay suggests unbelievable incompetence - Laws.

Commenting on the news that around 35,000 14-year olds’ SATs papers have still not been marked, despite the new school year starting next week, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said:“This suggests an unbelievable level of incompetence.  “It is bad enough that the tests weren’t marked in time, but nobody could possibly have thought that schools will be going back in the new school year with a huge number of papers still unmarked.  “The Government has some explaining to do to account for the fact that around 35,000 pupils’ English papers remain unmarked.” 

Thu 28th Aug 2008:

Child database should be scrapped not delayed - Laws.

The Liberal Democrats today repeated their call for the Government database containing details on every child in the UK to be scrapped. This follows the news that the ContactPoint database will delayed because of technical issues. Information about every child including their names, addresses, details of their parents or guardians and each government service they use, are to be added to the ContactPoint database. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "Instead of delaying the launch of the database, this intrusive project must be scrapped altogether. "A recent independent review has already undermined all of the Government’s assurances that the database will be secure. The discovery of further technical issues does not bode well for the future. "The Government has proven itself untrustworthy with large databases containing sensitive data. Parents have every right to demand that their children’s personal details are not put at risk."

Disappointing SATs results show progress has stalled - Laws.

Commenting on today’s publication of the Key Stage One SATs results, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "It is shameful that more than one in five boys still don’t have a good grasp of the most basic reading and writing skills at the age of seven. "Progress in tackling the problem of poor literacy and numeracy amongst our youngest children has stalled. "Children who don’t master basic skills at an early age risk falling even further behind in primary and secondary school. "There must be a much greater focus on early identification of these problems and more one-to-one support for children with basic literacy and numeracy problems. "Last year’s figures show that that the link between poverty and under achievement is already evident at this early age. They confirm the need for the Liberal Democrat Pupil Premium to target extra money at disadvantaged pupils."

Thu 21st Aug 2008:

Educational divide must be tackled - Brooke.

Commenting on the publication of GCSE results today, Liberal Democrat Schools Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "These young people have clearly worked hard and we should celebrate their success. "The drop in the total number of entries would suggest that many schools are now turning their backs on GCSEs, particularly in maths. The new regulator must ensure GCSEs really are rigorous qualifications that properly stretch the most talented pupils. "It is very concerning that the gap between boys and girls appears to be widening again. This educational divide must be tackled. "Increased funding needs to be directly linked to children from deprived backgrounds so that schools can provide the increased and personalised support they need."

Wed 20th Aug 2008:

Time to end GCSE 'dumbing down' debate - Brooke.

Commenting ahead of tomorrow’s release of GCSE results, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "After 11 years of a Labour Government, most young people are still failing to achieve five good GCSEs including English and Maths. "If we are going to have a world class education system, we must do more to improve educational achievement in this country - especially among the most disadvantaged children. "Some children find themselves falling behind long before they even reach GCSE age. Spotting and tackling underachievement in the early years is vital. "It is time to put an end to the debate over whether exams are getting easier - it’s not fair on young people who have worked so hard and rightly want to celebrate. "A fully independent watchdog that can stand up to Government and act as a real guardian of standards, is the only way to put a stop to those claims that education is being ‘dumbed-down’."

Absurd to financially penalise schools for poor results - Laws.

Commenting on reports that specialist schools failing to reach the Government’s GCSE pass rate benchmark could be stripped of additional funding, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "It would be absurd for the Government to financially penalise schools with lower results. These schools are often the ones in the most challenging catchment areas. "There is a strong case for funding all schools at the specialist status level and then providing additional top-ups on the basis of deprivation."

Fri 15th Aug 2008:

ETS must not receive a penny for marking fiasco - Brooke.

Commenting on the announcement that the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has ended its contract with ETS to mark future SATs papers, Liberal Democrat Schools Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "ETS demonstrated pure incompetence when it came to marking this year’s SATs. "Many children are still waiting for their results, which are now nearly six weeks late. "Ministers must confirm that ETS will not receive a penny for this year’s fiasco. "I hope that instead of finding another company to mark future Key Stage 3 papers, the Government will now scrap these expensive and unnecessary tests altogether."

Thu 14th Aug 2008:

Ministers must tackle educational divide - Brooke.

Commenting on today’s A-Level results, Liberal Democrat Schools Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "These young people have clearly worked hard and we should celebrate their success. "But with one in four candidates now achieving an A Grade, we need to be sure that the most talented students are being properly stretched. "The new regulator must now act by reviewing these top grades so that we can be fully confident that the apparent improvements are real. "There is now a clear divide at the heart of our education system. The rate of improvement in the A Grade pass rate in the south is nearly three times greater than in the north. "Ministers must work to find the reasons for this inequality and ensure that any improvements in our schools and colleges benefit all students."

Tue 12th Aug 2008:

It is time for SATs to be scrapped - Brooke.

Commenting on today’s SATs results for 14 year olds, Liberal Democrat Children Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "Ministers have once again failed to meet their own targets. After three years of secondary education, thousands of pupils are not reaching the expected level in key subjects. "It’s a disgrace that on the day the results have been published, many schools will still not yet have received their marked papers. "The shambles surrounding the marking of this year’s tests undermines the credibility of these results. The Government must waive the re-marking costs to schools for this year’s exams. "These tests taken by 14 year olds are unnecessary and expensive - it is time for them to be scrapped. The money saved should be used to help teachers address educational failure where it first arises - in infant and primary schools."

Thu 7th Aug 2008:

Ministers petrified to admit serious test result doubts - Laws.

Commenting on Ed Balls’ announcement that the publication of Key Stage 3 results at local authority level is to be delayed, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "Ed Balls’ announcement on Key Stage 3 results is a complete dog’s breakfast. It inspires no confidence at all in the quality of the results. "If the results are not now accurate enough to publish at a local authority level, they should have been held back at a national level too. "This announcement gives every impression of a Government which understands that there are serious doubts about the Key Stage 3 test results. But ministers are clearly too petrified to admit this. "It is getting clearer by the day that we need a radical overhaul of national testing, including the abolition of Key Stage 3 tests."

Tue 5th Aug 2008:

SATs shambles a disgrace - Brooke.

Commenting on today’s Key Stage 2 SATs results, Liberal Democrat Children Spokesperson, Annette Brooke said: "The shambles surrounding the marking of this year’s tests are a disgrace. 460 schools still do not have results for all of their pupils. "The Government must now waive the re-marking costs to schools for this year’s exams. It would be totally wrong for schools to pay the price for the Government’s and ETS’ incompetence. "Yet again, ministers have failed to meet their own targets. Too many children will be starting secondary school without having a good grasp of the core subjects.

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