Conservative Policies from 2010 Flashcards
Conservative lead Coalition:
From 2010 There has been a move away from education system based largely on a comprehensive school run by local authorities. It’s a policy strongly influenced by Neoliberal and New Right ideas about reducing the role of a state and increasing marketisation and privatisation.
Coalition Policies:
- Education Maintenance Allowance cut, these schemes offered financial support to students with transport, cost, resources, and food to encourage students to stay in education till they are 18.
- Tuition fees increased, universities in England charge up to £9000 per year from 2012.
- Emphasis on old-fashioned discipline, strict uniform codes and rules such as standing on teacher enters classroom etc.
- Introduction to free schools.
- Student Premium for disadvantaged children for resources and additional classroom support.
Academies:
From 2010 all schools encouraged to leave local authority control and become academies. Funding taken from local authority budget and given to academies by central government. In 2017 68% of all secondary schools had converted to academies and some were run by private education businesses and found it directly by the state.
Academies Criticism:
However, Labour’s idea of original city academies targeted disadvantaged schools and areas but the Coalition government allowed any school to become an academy which removed the focus on reducing inequality.
Free Schools:
Although funded by the state they are run and set up by teachers, parents, faith organisations/ businesses rather than the local authorities.
Supporters claim they can improve educational standard by taking control away from schools and giving it to the parents.
Free Schools Criticism:
Allen (2010) argues Research from Sweden where 20% of schools were free schools shows it only benefits children from highly educated families.
Other critics claim preschools are socially decisive and lower standards.
UK evidence shows three schools take few a disadvantage pupils nearby schools. For example in 2011 only 6.4% of pupils in Bristol free schools were eligible to FSM compared to 22% in city as a whole.
Fragmented Centralisation:
Ball (2011) promoting free schools and academies lead to increase fragmentation and centralisation of control over educational provision. Fragmentation is when the education system has become a patchwork of diversity in provision (greater inequality of opportunity). 
Centralisation of Control is The central government has the power to allow/force a school to become an academy (reduced amount of control of LEA’s).
Privatisation of Education:
This involves the transfer of public assets i.e. schools to private companies.
In the process education becomes a source of profit for capitalists in what Ball calls ‘education service industry’.
Private companies in education service industry are involved in activities such as building schools, providing supply teachers, work-base learning and careers advisors.
Large-scale school building profits often involve public private partnerships where private sector companies are there to design, build, finance abs operate services.
Ball: Privatisation of Education
Companies involved in work export are set to make 10 times the profit as any other contractors. However, local authorities often have to enter certain agreements as its the only way to build new schools because of lack of funding by central government.
Blurring private/public boundary:
Many senior officials in public sectors i.e directors of local authorities and headteachers now leave to set up work for private sector education businesses. Companies bid for contracts to provide services to schools and local authorities
Pollock (2004): Blurring public/private boundary
Argues flow of personnel allows Companies to buy insider knowledge to help with the contract as well as sidestepping local authority Democrats.
Privatisation and Globalisation of Education Policy:
Many private companies in the education service industry are foreign owned. For example, Edexcel is owned by USA education publishing and testing giant Pearson.
Often private companies are exporting UK educational policy to other countries and providing services to deliver the policies this results in nationstates becoming less important in policy-making and shifting to global level which is often privatised.
Buckingham and Scanlon (2005): Privatisation and Globalisation
They argued the U.K.’s for leading educational software companies are all owned by global multinationals, for example, Disney.
Ball : Education as Commodity
Ball concludes fundamental change is taking place and privatisation is a key factor shaping educational policy. He is increasingly focused on moving education services from the public sector controlled by nationstate to a provided by private company instead, this means the state loses its role as provider of educational services.
Hall: Education as Commodity
He sees coalition government policies as part of a long march of neo liberal revolution. He sees academies as handing over public to private capitalists. Neoliberals claim privatisation drives up standards is a myth used to legitimate turning of education into a source of private profit.
