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"The government has launched legal action against a London council over plans to close schools".
This first sentence hints towards the massive unanswered question in UK education that very rarely gets mentioned outside of teaching: what are schools for? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/sadiq-khan-urges-pm-to-let-london-schools-close-early-to-combat-covid
This first sentence hints towards the massive unanswered question in UK education that very rarely gets mentioned outside of teaching: what are schools for? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/sadiq-khan-urges-pm-to-let-london-schools-close-early-to-combat-covid
Let's start by unpicking some of the underlying assumptions behind this government's determination to keep schools open.
Firstly, the importance of education; while this is undoubtedly true, the same government hasn't shown much inclination to put its money where its mouth is to substantiate the rhetoric. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/18/englands-state-schools-suffering-biggest-fall-in-funding-since-1980s-says-ifs
Moreover, we rarely hear of any policy debate about education that goes beyond funding and structural issues. When it does (e.g. Gove's new curriculum), it's imposed from on high with very little input from teachers, who have to engage their classes on a daily basis.
In short, the rhetoric that education is beneficial for its own sake hits the brick wall of this government's own record. It may be true for many of us but the government's own actions betray other thinking.
Secondly, schools provide refuge for vulnerable children. Again, this is true, you can't spend much time in a state school without learning just how difficult some children's home lives are.
But, again, observing the government's actions, and especially their funding choices, reveals different priorities.
...and I haven't even mentioned @MarcusRashford and @FareShareUK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48105787#:~:text=Children's%20services%20in%20England%20are,current%20funding%20levels%20were%20unsustainable.&text=The%20MPs%20said%20overall%2C%20England's,cuts%20of%2029%25%20since%202010.
...and I haven't even mentioned @MarcusRashford and @FareShareUK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48105787#:~:text=Children's%20services%20in%20England%20are,current%20funding%20levels%20were%20unsustainable.&text=The%20MPs%20said%20overall%2C%20England's,cuts%20of%2029%25%20since%202010.
Now we get to the really bleak here and now. It's possible to deliver teaching remotely; it's very hard work (more so than teachers' already challenging 'normal' workload) and there will be a proportion of students who will struggle to access it for any number of reasons.
However, these difficulties need to be balanced against the very real life-or-death issue of spreading Covid19. There are no easy get-outs, we can only mitigate the risks as best we can.
Fortunately for us, there was a precedent: the tragic experience of Israel, which initially managed the pandemic very well through a national lockdown until it started opening up ...beginning with schools. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/middleeast/coronavirus-israel-schools-reopen.html
That happened in early- to mid-May. UK schools reopened in June, late enough to have noted the Israeli experience and changed course. But the UK government chose not to heed the warning.
For me, the very real risk of Covid19 deaths outweighed the other risks (e.g. to vulnerable children) and challenges (e.g. increased teacher workloads), even if you accept that the government really do prioritize those other issues.
I could go on like this, comparing every argument given with past records, but I'll spare you the tedium; the only arguments that maintain any sort of consistency are economic.
This government believes that schools are little more than childcare facilities for working parents.
This government believes that schools are little more than childcare facilities for working parents.
Yes, it's true that they do occasionally try to find ways to improve this provision of childcare but that doesn't move us away from the fundamental schools-as-childcare premise.
And, here, a minor diversion with a big kick. The Government's eagerness to maintain economic activity over almost everything else during this pandemic doesn't even stand up on its own merit and we've had good data on that for over 100 years. https://www.businessinsider.com/lessons-1918-flu-reopening-coronavirus-pandemic-too-soon-2020-4?r=US&IR=T
Back to education, this is a longstanding issue, even pre-Covid19. No one in power seems to have the first idea of what education is really about. Every August, ministers celebrate exam results which are increasingly divorced from either personal development or economic need.
UK education is a rudderless ship. No one in charge has ever stopped to think what it's actually *for*. Even if we, as a country, took the bleak view that education should serve the needs of the economy, then at least we would have a sense of direction. We don't even have that.
All of this should not be party-political; it needs cross-party agreement so that progress made by one party is not at risk of being completely undone when they lose an election.
For all the noise education generates, we haven't had any real leadership since maybe Kenneth Baker.
For all the noise education generates, we haven't had any real leadership since maybe Kenneth Baker.
