P8


 


Ebac to the future?


As if schools didn’t have enough accountability measures to deal with, the last academic year started with Education Secretary Michael Gove proposing a new measure – the Government would identify (and publish) the number of pupils in each secondary school who achieved GCSE grades A*-C in English, maths, science, a language and a humanity. These pupils would be awarded what he called “an English baccalaureate”, now commonly referred to as the Ebac.


One might have expected that the detail of this new award would be the subject of consultation. How naïve! As Schools Minister Nick Gibb admitted to the Commons Education Committee: “There was not a formal consultation process in coming up with this measure… we looked very carefully within the department at what its component parts should be.” So much for the coalition’s promise to set schools free from top-down prescription.


Initially, the Ebac’s purpose was laudable: “To encourage and facilitate a more rounded educational experience for all students we will create a new way of recognising those students, and schools, who succeed in achieving real breadth.” (White Paper, The Importance of Teaching)


What’s not to like? The NUT has long campaigned for a broad and balanced curriculum for all. But the paragraphs that follow refer to “a properly rounded academic education”, “a rigorous and broad academic education” and “a range of traditional subjects”.


The Ebac’s exclusive rather than inclusive nature was made apparent when the details were published. The






Continued on page 9

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16