Government to publish education strategy

Published: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:30:00

Schools secretary Ed Balls will unveil the government's last education white paper before the next general election later. The paper is widely expected to include legally enforceable rights to schemes such as one-to-one tuition and sports provision. There will also be new report cards which will grade schools as well as pupils and headteachers will run a series of schools instead of just one.

Speaking in advance of the white paper, Mr Balls admitted "tough decisions" would have to be made to get 'value for money' but denied future cuts were inevitable. "What I am saying today is, to parents, I want you to know that whether your child is academic, wants to go to university, [is] more practical, might want to get an apprenticeship, we will make sure that the schools give you choices, qualifications, so your child can succeed and do well," the schools secretary told GMTV. "If your child starts to fall behind, we should step in straight away and give one-to-one or small group tuition."

The white paper is also expected to confirm the abandoning of the government's National Strategies, ending centralised prescription of teaching methods and oversight of literacy and numeracy hours in primary schools. Chris Keates, head of the NASUWT teachers' union, welcomed the commitment to one-to-one tuition for pupils who may have fallen behind. "The proposal for one to one 'catch up' tuition for children and young people who have fallen behind their peers will be attractive to parents and teachers alike, she said.

"All parents will have access to the help and support which has previously been the preserve of those with money seeking to buy advantage for their children."

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