Former education chief says review 'will glue back together fragmented schools system', but Labour cannot turn clock back
The national education system is "chaotic" and needs to be glued back
together after becoming too fragmented under the coalition government,
the former education secretary David Blunkett has said as he completes a review into accountability in education.
Blunkett told the Guardian that Labour would restore a more coherent structure to encourage improvement in schools by introducing new bodies – probably at a sub-regional level – tasked with spotting failure, monitoring admissions, commissioning services, and ensuring financial accountability. They would also encourage collaboration between schools so that they learn from one another's success.
The review, which is due to be published next month, has been looking at some of the most difficult consequences of free schools, independent academies and academy chains, especially the effective centralisation of power within the education department.
Blunkett said there was no way to turn back the clock on changes implemented by the coalition and that he was not going to propose a simple return to local authority control of schools, but that decisions were needed to make the current relationship between schools and central government less complicated.
Blunkett describes the current school landscape as chaotic, a view shared by the chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, who recently described the architecture of English schools as atomised.
The review is also expected to reject the idea that Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMCI), run by Wilshaw, takes on the task of school improvement, as well as inspection.
There has been a concern that HMCI produces damning accounts of schooling quality in areas – for instance recently in Wolverhampton – but then walks away from offering any strategy to improve the failing schools.
Labour education sources said they believed giving HMCI a dual role risked muddling its primary responsibility to look at the standard of school teaching, and would instead have a vested interest in defending its school improvement work.
The proposal appears to be Gove's response to criticisms that too many free schools and academies have remained outside any proper scrutiny, leading to disasters such as the Kings science academy in Bradford and the Al-Madinah free school in Derby, involving allegations of faulty accounting and mismanagement by staff and governors.
Hunt has described the emergence of these potentially part-time regional commissioners, the subject of little parliamentary debate, as a sign of Gove's ideological retreat over total school autonomy.
Blunkett is especially concerned that some geographically dispersed large academy chains, controlling as many as 70 schools, are subject to no supervision. He is worried that the abolition of the Audit Commission means there is no body overseeing financial management of these schools, and neither the National Audit Office or the Education Funding Agency are equipped to handle financial supervision.
The former education secretary is also concerned that too many local education authorities have largely been pushed into the margins, left focusing on children in care and risk management.
Blunkett told the Guardian that Labour would restore a more coherent structure to encourage improvement in schools by introducing new bodies – probably at a sub-regional level – tasked with spotting failure, monitoring admissions, commissioning services, and ensuring financial accountability. They would also encourage collaboration between schools so that they learn from one another's success.
The review, which is due to be published next month, has been looking at some of the most difficult consequences of free schools, independent academies and academy chains, especially the effective centralisation of power within the education department.
Blunkett said there was no way to turn back the clock on changes implemented by the coalition and that he was not going to propose a simple return to local authority control of schools, but that decisions were needed to make the current relationship between schools and central government less complicated.
Blunkett describes the current school landscape as chaotic, a view shared by the chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, who recently described the architecture of English schools as atomised.
The review is also expected to reject the idea that Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMCI), run by Wilshaw, takes on the task of school improvement, as well as inspection.
There has been a concern that HMCI produces damning accounts of schooling quality in areas – for instance recently in Wolverhampton – but then walks away from offering any strategy to improve the failing schools.
Labour education sources said they believed giving HMCI a dual role risked muddling its primary responsibility to look at the standard of school teaching, and would instead have a vested interest in defending its school improvement work.
The proposal appears to be Gove's response to criticisms that too many free schools and academies have remained outside any proper scrutiny, leading to disasters such as the Kings science academy in Bradford and the Al-Madinah free school in Derby, involving allegations of faulty accounting and mismanagement by staff and governors.
Hunt has described the emergence of these potentially part-time regional commissioners, the subject of little parliamentary debate, as a sign of Gove's ideological retreat over total school autonomy.
Blunkett is especially concerned that some geographically dispersed large academy chains, controlling as many as 70 schools, are subject to no supervision. He is worried that the abolition of the Audit Commission means there is no body overseeing financial management of these schools, and neither the National Audit Office or the Education Funding Agency are equipped to handle financial supervision.
The former education secretary is also concerned that too many local education authorities have largely been pushed into the margins, left focusing on children in care and risk management.
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