Last summer, as the politics of Britain’s exit from the EU staggered on and England’s World Cup run offered some kind of respite, I spent an afternoon in Brownhills, near the West Midlands town of Walsall. I was there to try to get beyond the deafening inanities of Brexit, and report on the mounting financial crisis facing England’s education system. At Millfield primary school, everything once again became clear.
cyclingkev Excellent article but I'm surprised that there was no mention in it of the biggest problem of all, which is the privatisation of our schools and the subsequent removal of any say at all for local people, parents, teachers and others. The outrage has been silenced by this means.
cyclingkev Too busy showing faux outrage about someone having a drink on a train.
Divide and rule, misinformation and people occupied with their own problems. Frustration. Exasperation. Despair?
you'll find plenty of complaints in school Facebook pages but the trick has been to put the blame on councils.
This has been going on for years, along with all the other Tory scandals, misdemeanours and fiascos. Shame that John Harris & the Guardian in general have spent so much more effort exaggerating smears of antisemitism in Labour all that time.
LauraSmithMP John Harris’ article about the terrible damage being done to our schools should be emailed to every voter in the UK & its message should be headlining in every newspaper & on every radio & TV news bulletin.
Teachers should ALL start working to rule, and stop funding things out of their own pocket, no more unpaid overtime. The system will grind to a halt, and the government would have no choice but act
England is and has always been a nation of im alright jacks and inexplicable cap doffing?
The last 10 years has certainly transformed the system. Ill thought through. There is money in system but in wrong places. MAT leaders salaries cf to LA Directors of Education, too many MATs.....
Awful.
My cohort is long past healthy / sane response. Think of it this way: advanced education leads to increased life earnings ... and decreased concern with social injustice. It's just so.
If we destroy working class education...the wealthy get richer. It's working in the US. Now shut up and know ypur place
That is what happens when you socialize an entire nation.
In some cases because people who used to sell carpets are running academy chains and telling teachers how to teach. Academy chains are stifling education.
More money than ever is spent on education. Our schools are under financial pressure because of the overpopulation of our country.
The outrage is there but this government will not change anything. Look at the rise in home education to see how people are dealing with something they can’t change.
So-called 'reforms' that damage should be labelled 'deforms'
No kidding. Where do people send their kids to school? Do they not care or see the connection? And the crucial basis that an educated populace has for a functional democratic society?
Hey, whoever makes it out, makes it out, y'know? This way only the strong survive.