MPs to debate academy plans

MPs are set to debate the government’s plans to convert every school across England into an academy.

The plans were first announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s budget and clarified in the ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ white paper, released by the Department for Education on 17 March.

The plans have faced widespread criticism from opposition parties and the education profession, with claims that there is no solid proof that converting a school into an academy will improve results and that the changes could lead to lengthy and expensive conversions for already high performing schools.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), National Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) have joined together to question the academy plans and welcome the Labor Party’s move to secure a debate in the House of Commons.

Christine Blower, NUT general secretary strongly opposes the plans, claiming they are ‘based neither on evidence or popular demand’.

She says: “Many schools have chosen to stay within their local authorities for the practical support, help and advice local councils can give. We know that academisation in and of itself does not improve education.

“At a time of huge teacher shortages, budget cuts and difficulties around curriculum and testing these are entirely the wrong priorities from a Government that is losing its way.”

According to Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, the government’s plans are ‘about ideology, rather than about what’s best for children and their parents’. She also claims that ‘there’s no evidence converting schools to academies improves children’s education’ and warns that there aren’t enough good multi-academy chains to run the thousands of schools that will be converted.

Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Lucy Powell has deemed the plans ‘as irresponsible and reckless’, claiming that the pans are a distraction from the real issues affecting schools.

She says: “This government’s costly reorganisation to force every school to become an academy, will remove even more money, time and effort away from where the focus in schools should be – on raising standards. With such financial challenges facing education under the Tories, this unnecessary and unfounded distraction to ‘academise’ all schools is irresponsible and reckless, and can only harm standards in our schools.”