The particular cause which has inspired me to fight this election is the scandalous lack of secondary schools in the Battersea constituency.
On a national level, I am aware of the plans of the Conservative Party to act quickly if elected:
"We will immediately change the law so we can set hundreds of good schools free from political interference and enable them to help struggling schools. We will enable them to re-open as Academies this September. And we will empower them to take over failing primaries or other schools which need their leadership."
This is all very well but how can they guarantee these plans will be so effective so quickly for all schools and all children? If even one child in one school drops through the net, this policy will have failed.
As a society, we must make absolutely certain that the appalling cruelty and treatment suffered by Baby Peter and Kyrah Ishaq must never happen again. I was absolutely appalled by the sheer inhumanity of these poor young children dying the way they did. I am ashamed to live in a society where this could happen.
We must realise that poor education breeds and festers parents who treat children like this and we must make sure that we create a society where respect for others is vital and create a watertight education system where tragedies like this simply cannot happen.
It is a vicious circle that must be broken and successive governments and politicians have failed us in overcoming the appalling lack of opportunity we provide for our children.
We must develop an educational system where parents are free to choose the right school for their children but, at the same time, ensure poorer, less academic children are protected from being left out of the system.
Finally, having been to both Roman Catholic and Protestant schools myself, I do not understand how the existence of ‘faith schools’ can contribute positively to a ‘multi-cultural society’.
I do understand that many parents want their children to be brought up with their own faith. But, if these parents are really honest with themselves (and truth is at the heart of most religions) is the real reason they want their children at a faith school because the alternative state school is so bad?
In a multi-cultural society is it really the ‘Role of Government’ to organise and fund schools of different faiths where children leave school to join a multi-faith big wide world outside? Surely faith schools divide children in society rather than bring them together?
We have to admit that some faiths predominate in certain parts of the world. Some of these places have developed their own unique cultures. Some of these cultures are defined by race. Would we tolerate ‘race schools’? Of course not. But is this where faith schools are leading us?
God, I hope not.
Remember, I am standing for convergence rather than divergence.
I am a Co-founder and Director of www.Lovereading.co.uk, which has twice been nominated for Innovation in the Book Trade (the ‘Nibbies’).
Since launch in 2005, Lovereading has expanded to include www.Lovereading4kids.co.uk
www.Lovereading4schools.co.uk
www.Lovewriting.co.uk
Through these businesses, we have been able to validate the national lack of literacy – and, importantly the sheer enjoyment of reading. If we can encourage our children to read more, they will learn more, they will gain more knowledge and they will be less ignorant of the world around them.
I believe that every child has a talent, and that it is the responsibility of schools to help identify and nurture this talent. It is not enough to set academic targets without balancing them with teaching wider skills such as sport, music and the arts.
Over the years, the ‘equalisation’ of the comprehensive system and the introduction of Academic League Tables, where schools and children are judged by academic achievement alone, have been a spectacular failure.
It is easy to see why untrustworthy politicians and bureaucratic Government Departments set these targets. But they are a cop out.
Children themselves know whether or not they are more talented than the other children in their year. “OMG, Dad, X is brilliant at Maths. I’ll never be as good as her”. “OMG, Dad, Y is a really quick runner. He beats me by miles!”. “OMG, Dad, Z is fantastic guitarist. You should hear her!”.
Children themselves know they are not equal. So, let’s be grown up and admit this and give our children the chance to develop their talents in the things they are good at - and not judge them by academic results alone.
On a separate note if, in the private sector, teachers are provided with accommodation on top of their salary, why cannot state schools do the same? I am not an expert on Housing, but surely it would be easier to recruit new, better teachers straight from College or University if they were not burdened by the level of local property prices, especially in expensive urban areas like Battersea?
The Conservative Party has announced a policy that teachers can only qualify if they achieve a degree above a certain level. What about Art teachers, or Music teachers, or Sports teachers? Why does an academic degree make them a better teacher?
The most talented graduates often choose careers other than teaching because they are more financially remunerative. If accommodation came with the job, then I am sure more graduates would become teachers.
If, as a society, we treated teachers better we would get better teachers.
