Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, has condemned the hollow response to the challenges created by Tory Governments in schools over the last twelve years as the Government’s Schools White Paper shows no plan, vision or ambition for children and young people in Bristol South.
The Education Secretary’s big idea amounts to telling 8 out of 10 schools to carry on as usual. Amongst the pledges was the promise that a school will intervene to help if a child falls behind in English and Maths. This ‘pledge’ acknowledges that 12 years of Conservative Governments have failed to get the basics right.
Over the last decade the number of children getting good GCSE qualifications is going backwards. In a question in Parliament on Monday, Karin Smyth called on the Secretary of State for Education to apologise to parents and young people for the 12 years of falling funding per pupil.
Karin Smyth’s annual jobs and apprenticeships fair will be taking place on Thursday 12 May at the South Bristol Skills Academy to try and plug the gaps left behind by the Conservative Government’s record of failure.
Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, said:
“This Tory Schools White Paper represents a serious lack of ambition for children’s learning and their futures. Children have endured two years of chaos and disruption to their learning, worsening the problems which already existed pre-pandemic, with thousands of pupils leaving school without the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in life.
“The Government isn’t trying to tackle any of this, and years of falling funding per pupil is having a real impact. Helping every child to develop good reading, writing skills are the fundamentals of a good school system, not the brilliant add on’s the Education Secretary is making them out to be in his White Paper.
“Education is all about opportunity. The Labour Party would put education at the heart of our ambitions for Britain to ensure every young person leaves school ready for work and ready for life, whether they go on to college, university or an apprenticeship. Every child deserves options so they can pick the route which works best for them.”