Promoting an education sector committed to social mobility.

1. Public Service Review: Central Government: issue 21
E
ducation policy looks set to be one of the most
controversial issues facing the new Coalition
Government. The Conservatives’ Swedish free
school model, conflict over higher education fees, and
question marks over whether they are willing to make
available the £2.5bn investment in schools demanded by
their coalition partners, are all cracks that will take some
papering over. Education is an area, however, that must be
prioritised as Britain continues to lose ground compared
with the rest of the industrialised world.
Demanding ever greater investment in education is no
longer a satisfactory antidote, especially as the new
government seeks to address Britain’s huge deficit. The
biggest issue facing the new government is how to
improve standards and to create an education system able
to promote social mobility.
Earlier this year a major report by the National Equality
Panel concluded that rather than being fixed at birth,
inequalities related to family background widen through
the years of compulsory education. Seized upon by the
Conservatives as a further sign of Britain’s broken society,
the new Lib-Con coalition has already pledged to ‘close
the attainment gap between richest and poorest’ as one
its fundamental priorities. For both the coalition partners
the answer is more targeted funding through the ‘pupil
premium’ that will ensure more money is allocated to
pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. A policy of
targeted funding has in fact existed in all but name for
many years. A recent research paper found that on
average primary schools are already allocated 71% more
funding for admitting a pupil from a disadvantaged
background, a figure that rises to 77% for secondary
schools. Although this funding was to a certain extent
flattened by local authorities, it seems that neither
increased investment nor better targeted funding should
be seen as the magic bullet.
One of the few innovative policy initiatives in recent
years that specifically pledged to target ailing pupils
from disadvantaged backgrounds was Labour’s £500m
commitment to provide one-to-one tuition to all pupils
aged seven to 11 years old falling behind in maths and
English, starting in September 2010. Had Labour gained a
fourth term, it seems this would have become one of its
flagship policies, offering a vital safety net to catch those
pupils who have the academic ability to do well but perhaps
lack the foundations of a stable, supportive family
background. The Conservatives’ focus on the free schools
initiative and the reluctance to provide extra funding to the
sector suggests it will soon be forgotten.
However, if the coalition is serious about reaching the
estimated 300,000 pupils who fall behind their peers every
year, it would do well to build on its predecessor’s ideas
rather than start anew. The greatest weakness surrounding
current political debates on one-to-one tuition is the
tendency to completely ignore the private tutoring sector.
The failure of initial trials has been blamed on the
shortage of willing recruits and the over-reliance on
existing teachers with already burgeoning workloads.
Although to some extent unregulated, the private sector
boasts a well-organised network of highly intelligent and
well-motivated tutors, perhaps better able to instil a
passion for learning than an exhausted teacher after a full
working day.
By embracing the private tutoring sector the government
has the chance both to utilise the extensive network of
existing tutors and to establish greater regulation across
the tutoring business. There is already talk within the
sector of establishing an association of tutors to regularise
and improve standards. In return, the state could consider
setting up an education resource bank containing teaching
resources carefully tailored to the national curriculum for
tutors to draw upon. In this way the quality of tutoring and
the teaching materials used would be well safeguarded.
The promise of universal one-to-one tuition for those who
are falling behind was an ambitious pledge and one that
could have played a major role in improving levels of
attainment amongst pupils of all social backgrounds.
If the new government is determined to improve
educational standards, then it may be an initiative it can
ill afford to spurn.
The private sector may provide the key to an education system promoting
social mobility, argue Hamid Hashemi and Patrick Meehan, of Mayfair Tutors…
Private matters
1
Hamid Hashemi
Managing Director
Patrick Meehan
Academic Consultant
Mayfair Tutors
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7665 6606
enquiries@mayfairtutors.com
www.mayfairtutors.com