Academic failure

WHEN Tony Blair pledged to make his top priority “education, education, education”, voters thought they would get a better schools system. Fourteen years after Labour began a record spending spree on improving Britain’s academic standards, the areas in which they fell short are now being laid bare. It has created a sorry inheritance for the coalition, with nearly 80,000 children missing out on their place at their first-choice secondary school this year, although it is not one they yet appear to know how to tackle.

This is being felt acutely in Yorkshire, where nearly 5,000 children were left disappointed in the annual applications scheme, and the outcome will be felt for many years. Some pupils will be faced with sub-standard teaching, long journeys by bus, car or train and the prospect of being separated from their friends.

For parents, there is more stress and strain as they have to fit longer journeys and potentially greater expense around their own jobs and other family commitments.

These are the symptoms, however, rather than the cause, of a greater malaise. There are still too many schools which are not up to scratch, leaving less attractive establishments to be further marginalised.

It is a conundrum that several education secretaries failed to solve under Labour and the reality of free schools, dreamt up by Michael Gove, is that only a tiny proportion of children will benefit from the concept. The vast amount of time, money and resources needed to set up a school from scratch means it will be many years before they are a widespread option for parents unhappy with what is offered by their local authority.

The answer, of course, is to improve the standards of existing schools, giving families more choice, improving young people’s life chances and creating a fairer society.