Speaking at an event hosted by NASUWT – the UK’s largest teachers’ union – the Education Minister, Nick Gibb, condemned examples given by fellow panel members of parents being pressured into making regular payments to schools.
NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates said that “fundamental principles,” of the education system were being compromised through deregulation and reduced oversight.
Ms Keates highlighted the financial strains being put on families through payments they were being asked to make to support aspects of their children’s education.
Areas of concern, she said, were charges to learn certain subjects; the high cost of school uniforms and inflexibility over where they could be purchased; perceived obligations to buy electronic equipment such as iPads through schools; pressures to make regular donations and expensive trips and visits that are a necessary part of the curriculum.
Ms Keates urged the Government to understand the “child’s experience” of education day to day.
“We should not allow schools to charge for anything that is part of the curriculum and is necessary for a child to actually complete a GCSE or an A-Level,” she said
“The state has got to act as an enabler for individuals so that they can develop their full potential and education is absolutely fundamental to this.
“We are more than happy to work with the Government to tackle these issues and to realise what is our shared ambition, and that is to make sure that every child has access to the highest quality education.”
Echoing these concerns, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said that charges for certain resources and trips were affecting pupils’ behaviour, causing them to choose the cheapest subject options and not tell parents about expensive excursions.
Recent research had found, she added, that family income was the most powerful factor in determining a child’s educational attainment, with parental stress and anxiety around money a significant burden.
Responding to these comments, Mr Gibb said: “I have listened very carefully… and all the issues that you have raised are against the rules. They are against the admissions code and they are against the rules in the Education Act, so any evidence you have please do send to me.”
Speaking more broadly on how to provide the same level of education to all children, regardless of their socio-economic status, the Minister said the Government was committed to a “one nation education system.”
He identified the pupil premium as being one of the ways in which disadvantaged pupils were being supported.
Mr Gibb also pointed to free school meals, greater autonomy for successful schools, removal of certain vocational courses and the introduction of the English Baccalaureate as measures that were reducing inequality amongst pupils.
The Education and Adoption Bill, he added, would enable failing schools to be protected from “the dead hand of local bureaucracy,” transferring power instead to “teachers who can work together to make decisions.”
“Ambitious teachers can now transform existing schools, or indeed establish new schools and transform their own roles as well as the education of their pupils,” said the minister.
Summarising the Government’s approach, Mr Gibb concluded: “Our reforms are aimed at providing an equalising educational experience – Something that has not been seen for a decade…
“It’s about challenging failing schools that are consistently letting down children to get those schools to be better. It’s about providing a strong academic, knowledge-based curriculum, which will give all children access to opportunities.
“We see education as a driving force in social justice. We want every child in this country to have the standard of education that children in the best schools in this country are achieving and that is how you tackle poverty in the long term.”