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Make your mark
What plans do the main political parties have for the education system and public sector workers? And what would the NUT like to see from the next government? Political officer Chris Brown looks ahead to this year’s general election, and invites members to share their views.
With X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing over for another year the attention of the British voting public turns to the more important business of electing a government and local councillors over the course of 2010. Debates about who should run our schools may not attract prime time television audiences, but during the election campaign these fundamental issues about the future of the education service in England and Wales will be pored over.
This general election looks set to be the most hotly contested of recent times. Whatever the hue of the next government, two things are certain. First of all, the House of Commons will look very different after the election. Approximately 20 per cent of sitting MPs have already said they will stand down at the election and this number will undoubtedly increase before polling day. Secondly, the new government will be seriously constrained by the state of public finances for the first time since the recessions of the early 1990s.
Party policies
You may work in a school that opens as a polling station for elections. What might the votes cast there mean for your school and teachers across the country?
Perhaps the most radical proposals originate from the Conservative party. They intend to import the Swedish choice model with a range of new providers, such as parents, charities or businesses, setting up ‘free’ schools. They would encourage new providers to come forward by reforming planning and building regulations.
The Tories have, however, ruled out adopting perhaps the most controversial element of the Swedish system under which schools are allowed to make a profit. There is speculation that their plans to give parents control of the money that is spent on their child’s state education could be a precursor to a voucher system. These plans, coupled with their pupil premium policy, which would grant extra funding for pupils from deprived backgrounds, would, if implemented, significantly alter and fragment the education landscape.
Both the main opposition parties propose changes to the national framework for teachers’ pay and conditions. They would honour the existing three year pay deal but reform the system to give individual headteachers greater freedom to vary pay.
The teachers’ pension scheme and other public sector pension schemes may also return to the agenda. While Labour has, to date, been supportive of the current arrangements negotiated in 2005, the Liberal Democrats would establish an independent commission to review the terms, benefits and affordability of public sector pensions. Although the Conservatives don’t have an official policy on public sector pensions, David Cameron has called for an end to the “apartheid“ in pensions and a move towards defined contribution rather than final salary schemes.
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