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Speak up for education!

The future shape of education played a major part in the decision-making of many voters during the general election - and will continue to be a key issue as the coalition government continues to formulate new policy.

ATL believes it's time to cut through the party politics of education and start listening to those in the know – the education staff working in our schools and colleges.

We are running a campaign to encourage politicians to read and respond to our education manifesto, which we based on the issues our members told us about. By visiting ATL's election page, www.atl.org.uk/election, you can download it to read it for yourself (there are separate versions for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).

You can also get involved with the debate on ATL's Facebook page - there's a new discussion about ATL's manifesto and each of the parties' plans.

Working with the new government

ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, recently said:  "We look forward to working constructively with Michael Gove, the new secretary of state for education.

"We hope education ministers see the virtues of continuing the social partnership, which has worked well for the government, schools and pupils.

"And we hope the new education department will resist any funding cuts which will make it harder for schools and education staff to keep improving standards."

Denied your right to vote?

Liberty has announced today that it will look into allegations that hundreds of potential voters were disenfranchised amid chaos at polling stations around the country. The organisation is calling for people prevented from exercising their fundamental right to vote to contact Liberty with a view to further action. 

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: “Shameful scenes of hundreds of voters turned away from polling stations are unworthy of a mature democracy like ours. This scandal must not be lost in all the current speculation about a new government and the relevant authorities cannot be left to investigate themselves.
 
"Anyone who feels they were denied their fundamental right to vote should contact us urgently. Liberty will use all legal and campaigning means to ensure that this disgrace is never repeated. This is particularly pressing given the possibility of further elections in the medium term.”

You can download a form from the Liberty website to share your experiences of the chaos on voting day to help inform a forthcoming campaign. 

What is the new government promising?

On 11 May, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats published the outcome of their coalition negotiations on a number of issues, including education. This said:

Schools

We agree to promote the reform of schools in order to ensure:

  • that new providers can enter the state school system in response to parental demand;

  • that all schools have greater freedom over curriculum; and,

  • that all schools are held properly accountable.

Higher education

We await Lord Browne’s final report into higher education funding, and will judge its proposals against the need to:

  • increase social mobility;

  • take into account the impact on student debt;

  • ensure a properly funded university sector;

  • improve the quality of teaching;

  • advance scholarship; and,

  • attract a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

If the response of the Government to Lord Browne’s report is one that Liberal Democrats cannot accept, then arrangements will be made to enable Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain in any vote.

Education spokespeople from the three main parties recently spoke at our Annual Conference. Below are links to their speeches on the ATL website, where we have them, and to the education policy pages on their party website.