Comments

[Ukhome43]

I would like to see an estimate of how much could be saved on bureaucracy if we made all schools independent of local authority control and abolished all local authority education departments.I should imagine it would run close to a billion pounds if not more.Far too much money in this country is wasted on bureaucracy that should be spent giving children a better education than they are now getting.

[John Coles]

BUT, will these people come to want Grammar schools? They might be delusional enough.

[Essexboy]

Jack,

Are you taking your meds? You're starting to make sense.

[Ultimo Tiger]

Either that or he's like Admiral Fisher.

Very black and white on different issues.

[Ultimo Tiger]

Surely that's the point of this idea. If they want such a school they can set one up.

[Paul]

A flag in every classroom.

Bring back the birch.

Bring back the 11+.

Bring back grammar schools.

Abolish all muslim schools.

This is just window dressing. No thanks.

[Ukhome43]

The party is not promising any of those things and it has said time and time again that selection is not going to happen.

[attackdog]

Paul you are obviously a socialist and as they all do, you are making vague and stupid statements. You should just concentrate on your mate Broon and stop trying to wind up the good folk who want to read what real people think.

[Ultimo Tiger]

Yes, effectively allowing a massive free market intervention in the schools secotr is just "window" dressing.

And the brich was never used in schools, only by the authorities.

And are you going to abolish all Christian schools? What about Jewish ones?

[per@hotmail.com]

I'm not up to date with the school discipline stuff. So bringing back the birch is a possibility if people set up their own schools?

[per@hotmail.com]

can they reintroduce the cane if they want? I know we are going hard on the discipline stuff but I am not sure what the policy is?

[Ultimo Tiger]

I think youd need to repeal the law that got rid of it in the early 80s. Which Act was it again?

[Essexboy]

He's certainly all at sea.

[Essexboy]

"Bring back the birch."

Isn't it good that the over 165's are embracing modern technology.

[Ultimo Tiger]

Unlike some of his crazier battlecrusier ideas.

[per@hotmail.com]

sometimes you cant beat the old fashioned way

[libertarian]

No I'm afraid not, the Tory idea of local democracy and parental choice is ONLY if it agrees with CCHQ. Gove was asked if parents would be allowed to set up Grammar schools and he said no, absolutely not.

This kind of quasi socialist nonsense is why the tories aren't going to win the election ( again) people can see through the pathetic "progressive" policies

[libertarian]

Exactly, so there is NO parental choice then is there?

[Ukhome43]

We can`t have parents choosing a system that labels the majority as failures at eleven. Selection is wrong. We need a system that can give all children a excellent education not just the few.

[TomTom]

Since 50%+ of my Council Tax goes on Education & Social Services cut it completely. BTW Jack, Child Social Services and Education were merged by Labour so it is the biggest single budget item in all LEAs. Time to abolish Social Services and LEA schools - privatise both

[John Moss]

Jack,

I can give you a different answer, but hopefully it will give you a sense of the scale of spending which is availble to direct in a different way.

If you add up all education and training spending across the two major departments which administer it - DBIS does training and universities and DCFS does schools - it comes to just over £90 billion a year.

That is enough to put £6,000 in the hands of every parent, student and trainee, every year from age 3 to 23, with £4bn left over.

Put that in at the bottom, let the parents, students and trainees choose how they spend it and I bet there is plenty of scope for much better nurseries, schools, universities, colleges and training.

[Ukhome43]

I wouldn`t privatise education authorities I would just set schools free from there control so there function is basically redundant. As for social services I believe a lot of there functions should be taken over by the voluntary and charitable sector`s. I am sure that the likes of Barnado`s, NCH etc would be far more successful in protecting children for example than the council run social services are at present.

[JBB]

We have resorted to taking action to build our own school because our Labour Liberal alliance council will not give our community a school. It is happy to set up 2 other new schools 5 miles down the road which are within a mile of each other.

[Ukhome43]

That is what the policy is all about giving power to the people.