The Impacts of the Conservative Party's Plans for Education in the UK
Introduction
The UK government considers education to be one of the fundamental components of the country’s economy (Dale & Nfa 2012). Subsequently, different political parties intending to form the next UK government consider education as one of the critical components of their manifesto. The Conservative Party is one of the major political parties in the UK. The party is committed to improving the life of every child in the UK by providing them good education. The party considers education as one of the critical rights of every child as opposed to being a luxury. In an effort to promote education, the Conservative Party intends to provide children with good primary schools with zero tolerance for failure.
The Party is committed to helping teachers across the UK be effective in imparting the requisite knowledge and skills such as computing, engineering, and science skills to students. Additionally, the Conservative Party is committed to improving apprenticeship by ensuring that there is no cap on university places. These issues indicate that the Conservative Party is committed to reforming the UK education sector. In the quest to reform the education sector, the Conservative Party has taken into consideration a number of issues that include grammar schools, independent schools, academies and free school meals, the curriculum and qualifications, school inspections, school funding, and school staff. This research project examines the impact of the Conservative Party on the UK education sector with reference to the issues outlined above.
Grammar schools
According to Richardson (2016), Grammar schools include ‘state secondary schools that select their pupils by means of an examination taken by children at age 11, known as the 11-plus’ (para. 1). Grammar schools are relatively few considered to ordinary state secondary school. Under the grammar schools, pupils who pass the examination proceed to the grammar school while those who fail the exam proceed to the local secondary modern school (Richardson 2016; Bale 2011). In Britain, there are approximately 163 grammar schools compared to 3,000 state secondary schools (Foster 2012). The Conservative Party is committed to reviving the grammar schools. As the Prime Minister, Theresa May has proposed to lift the ban on new grammar schools that have existed for a considerable duration.
In implementing the proposal, the Conservative Party intends to inject £50 million to support the establishment of new grammar schools (The Conservative Party Manifesto 2015). The Prime Minister’s rationale for establishing new grammar schools is to improve Britain’s competitiveness with regard to education by making it ‘the great meritocracy of the world’ (Hope 2016). The Conservative Party is of the view that Grammar schools are effective in promoting the growth of the UK education sector (Kettle 2016). This arises from the fact that grammar schools create an opportunity for the UK government to stretch its provision of education by entrenching diversity (Bochel 2011). The Conservative Party intends to achieve this goal by ensuring that the grammar schools do not discriminate in the selection of students into the grammar schools.
Academies and free school meals
The Conservative Party is focused on improving the education status by transforming a significant proportion of the country’s schools into academies (Seldon, Finn & Thoms 2015). The Conservative Party intends to achieve this goal by allowing over 800 primary schools characterized by poor performance to be taken over by well-established and experienced academy sponsors (Great Britain 2013). The Party is of the view that this move will contribute to significant improvement in enhancing learning amongst pupils. Additionally, the Conservative Party is focused on undertaking continuous expansion of free schools and academies. According to Smith (2013), ‘free schools are set up by groups of parents, teachers, charities, businesses, universities, trusts, religious or voluntary groups, but funded directly by the central government’ (p.46). The free schools are entrenched under the Education Act 2011 and the Academies Act 2010 (Bevir & Rhodes 2016). According to Bevir and Rhodes (2016), the rationale of free schools is to enhance learning within the community. Through this move, the Conservative Party intends to ensure accessibility of learning amongst all students in the UK irrespective of their background. Within the period of its leadership, the Conservative Party has formulated a plan that will lead to the establishment of at least 500 new free schools. Through this move, the Conservative Party will create over 27,000 new schools (Coughlan 2015).
The Conservative Party is further committed to supporting families by providing them with free meals. However, in enacting this plan, the Conservative government will largely target families with infants. The Conservative Party is of the view that offering free meals to infants will play a critical role in enhancing learning and development amongst infants, which plays a critical role in enhancing student’s future learning (Million, Heinrich & Coelen 2017).
School funding
Ensuring optimal school funding is fundamental in enhancing school operations and long-term operations (Williams 2015; Hauswauld 2016). The Conservative Party is committed to ensuring adequate funding within the education sector. In order to enhance the education sector, the Conservative Party intends to construct new schools. Subsequently, the Party plans to invest £18 billion in the construction of new schools. The Party’s rationale in constructing new schools is to provide students with the best learning environment. The Conservative Party is further committed to ensuring that school funding is adequately protected. In addition to this move, the Conservative Party intends to continuously increase school funding in line with the increase in the number of pupils (Hall 2011). According to the Conservative Party Manifesto (2015), the Conservative Party government is committed to providing students ‘premium, protected at current rates, so that schools receive additional money for those from the poorest background’ (p. 35). In the process of funding schools, the Conservative Party is committed to ensuring fairness. According to Roberts and Bolton (2017), the Conservative Party government is committed to ‘phasing out the arbitrary and unfair school funding system that has systematically underfunded schools in whole swathes of the country’ (p. 14). This aspect underlines that the Conservative Party is focused on enhancing equality in the provision of education services. The Conservative Party intends to establish a new national funding formula that will ensure that all students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve equity and fairness in accessing education (Tomlinson 2008). In spite of its commitment to fund schools, the Conservative Party will ensure that the parties charged with the responsibility of running schools do not transform the learning institution into profit entities.
School inspections
School inspection is critical in enhancing the effectiveness with which learning institutions impart knowledge and skills to students (Baxter 2017). The rationale of inspection is to improve the effectiveness with which school management teams adjust their approach to teaching (Cullingford 2013). In an effort to promote learning, the Conservative Party is committed to enhancing learning by undertaking extensive inspection of schools. Unlike the Labor government, the Conservative Government intends to base its inspection of schools on extensive data collection (Elkins & Elliot 2006). The Conservative Party is of the view that basing school inspection on extensive data collection will play an essential role in ensuring that a broad approach is achieved in undertaking the process.
School staff
According to Stahl, Bjorkman and Morris (2012), the quality of an institution’s staff has a significant impact on the success with which the institution achieves its intended goals. In line with its commitment to enhancing learning, the Conservative Party is focused on improving the teachers’ capacity to enhance learning. The Conservative Party will not limit the school staff’s role to teaching. On the contrary, the conservative party is focused on extending the teachers’ role to disciplinary role. The party’s manifesto articulates the Conservative Party’s commitment to ensure that teachers have greater disciplinary power. The Party’s rationale in expanding the teachers’ role is to improve the capacity with which teachers deal with serious disciplinary issues. Through this approach, the Conservative Party is of the view that it will succeed in improving the learning environment.
In addition to the above issues, the Conservative Party is committed to entrenching effective human resource management practices in promoting the education sector. One of the most essential human resource management issues that the Conservative Party will take into consideration entails staffing. Valentine et al. (2013) assert that staffing is critical in determining the effectiveness with which institutions succeed in achieving the intended goal. Aswathappa (2013) argues that effective staffing contributes to the development of a strong human capital base. A strong human capital base improves the effectiveness with which employees undertake their assigned roles and responsibilities hence improving an organization’s overall profitability. In recognition of the importance of staffing within the education sector, the Conservative Party plans to recruit and keep the best-qualified teachers. In addition to this approach, the Conservative Party further intends to increase the amount of pay to teachers. The rationale for increasing the level of pay for teachers is to increase motivation among teachers. The Conservative Party is further committed to improving learning by undertaking extensive training for teachers. The Conservative Party intends to achieve this goal through the establishment of an independent College of Teaching. Through this move, the Conservative Party is of the view that it will succeed in promoting high teaching standards. Moreover, the Party is of the view that the College of Teaching will succeed in improving school leadership.
The curriculum and qualifications
The Conservative Party is focused on ensuring that the learning institutions are effective in imparting knowledge and skills that are relevant in enhancing students’ effectiveness in dealing with issues that they might encounter in the future (Thompson 2014). Subsequently, the party intends to transform the school’s capacity by enhancing the students’ level of qualification. The Conservative Party’s commitment to improving the student’s level of qualification is spurred by the identification of a significant gap with regard to the student’s level of qualification. For example, the Conservative Party asserts that approximately 25% of students leaving primary schools do not have the capacity to add up, write, and read properly (The Conservative Party Manifesto 2015). Additionally, the Conservative Party intends to improve students’ learning and qualifications with regard to technical skills. The Party’s motivation to improve qualification amongst students is spurred by recognition of the decline in the UK’s education standards. Hramiak and Hudson (2014) affirm that ‘Britain schools have fallen down the global league tables for mathematics and science’ (p.34).
The Conservative Party recognizes the curriculum as an essential element in promoting learning. Subsequently, the Conservative Party is focused on establishing a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum in order to increase the effectiveness with which it secures the students’ capacity to access valuable education. To improve the relevance of skills and knowledge learned in the classroom environment to the contemporary environment, the Conservative Party has proposed to introduce challenging subjects into the curriculum. The rationale of reforming the curriculum by introducing challenging subjects enhances the standards of education.
Faith schools
In line with its commitment to promote the development of the country’s education sector, the UK government has entrenched faith schools as one of the categories of schools (Gardner, Lawton & Cairns 2005). The faith schools entail schools that are designed on the basis of a faith character (Cairns 2005). Approximately, 25% of schools in Britain have a faith designation. Examples of faith schools in the UK include Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Jewish (Long & Paul 2017). In an effort to promote diversity within the country’s education sector, the Conservative Party is committed to enhancing the development of faith schools. In line with its manifesto, the Conservative Party plans to extend its relaxed rules with regard to the establishment of faith schools. The Conservative Party plans to allow the expansion of different faith-based schools. The Party’s rationale in relaxing laws on the establishment of faith schools is to increase the ease with which parents who might intend to take their children to faith-based schools do so by increasing the accessibility of such schools.
Independent schools
According to a report by the Independent Schools Council (2017), ‘independent schools in the UK rank among the best in the world, and educate more than 500,000 children in the UK’ (p.1). Currently, there are over 1,200 independent schools. In recognition of the role of the independent schools, the Conservative Party has over the years been focused on enhancing the development of independent schools contrary to the Labor Party which has over the years attacked the establishment of independent schools (Walford 2012). The Party’s rationale in allowing the establishment of independent schools is to provide parents the right and diversity in providing their children with education (Gabbitas Educational Consultants 2013).
Reflection on the research project
The research project has been very valuable in my quest to develop academic skills. One of the valuable academic skills that I have developed relates to conducting a literature review in undertaking the research. The process of conducting this research study entailed an extensive review of literature on different issues. From the research project, I have been able to develop gained insight into how to search for literature materials from available secondary sources. One of the skills that I have learned relates to selecting the sources of secondary data by ensuring that the data is obtained from credible sources. Thus, the research study has provided an opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge learned with regard to conducting a qualitative research study.
For example, by conducting the research study, I have been able to optimally apply the literature review approach as one of the methodological approaches in conducting research studies. From the literature review, I have gained extensive knowledge of the fundamental issues that The Conservative Party intends to undertake in order to transform the country’s education sector. Among the issues learned relate to the Party’s commitment to enhance diversity and equality with regard to children’s access to education by ensuring that schools are adequately funded, establishing new schools, and promoting the establishment of faith-based schools (BBC 2016). The research paper has further provided critical insight into the Conservative Party’s focus on enhancing learning by strengthening the students’ level of qualification and acquisition of relevant skills and knowledge by improving the curriculum.
In spite of the fact that the research study provided an opportunity to apply literature review as one of the methodological approaches in undertaking qualitative research, the research process has largely focused on sourcing research data from secondary sources. Thus, the research study has not provided an opportunity for the application of alternative sources of research data such as interviews. The application of the interviewing technique would have created an opportunity to gather information from the relevant stakeholders in the UK education sector such as school heads. On the basis of this approach, I would have been able to gather additional insight into the impact of the Conservative Party plans on the UK education sector. Nevertheless, I ensured that the data collected was relevant.
If provided an opportunity to conduct the research study all over again, I would consider sourcing information from primary sources. This will play a fundamental role in increasing the level of understanding of the UK’s Conservative Party plans for the country’s education sector. Application of the interviewing technique will aid in the attainment of a better understanding of the impact of the Conservative Party plans on the education sector by asking stakeholders within the UK educational sector about the real implications of the party’s plans. Alternatively, the integration of the interviewing technique will play a fundamental role in gathering data from stakeholders within the Conservative Party on the Party’s rationale towards the different aspects related to the education sector.
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