With schools re-opening after the summer vacation, Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Education Minister, has urged students to continue to exceed expectations despite the Government’s cuts programmes. With the economy continuing to stall, Mr. Perkins has stressed the importance of education for young people in an increasingly competitive job market.
While wishing students all the best after a number of weeks away from the classroom, Mr. Perkins also expressed his concerns with the Con Dem Government’s ‘free school’ initiative, which has attracted most of the Government’s energy despite only affecting a handful of the country’s children.
Contrary to the Education Secretary, Michael Gove’s original proposals, less than half of the new ‘free-schools’ have been set up by parents, with many being set up in more affluent areas already having access to good schools.
Mr. Perkins said:-
“The new school year is a great opportunity for our young people to exceed expectations and put a marker down for the rest of their time in education. With Government cuts affecting almost all industries, it has never been more important for schoolchildren and young adults to succeed at school and gain the necessary skills to land good jobs with great potential”.
He added:-
“The Government’s ‘free schools’ project has proved to be a red herring. Michael Gove and the Tory led Government has invested almost all its time in schools which are not democratic, which are not necessarily set up by parents, and which have been created for the benefit of the wealthy few. In a time of deep and unnecessary cuts, this is a missed opportunity for the Government to ensure that the vast majority of students are given the best possible resources to get on in later life. And as for the Lib Dems, yet again the Tory’s have forced through a policy which Nick Clegg and co were actively campaigning against at the expense of the vast majority of our young people relying on LEA funded secondary schools around the country”.
