It's All Private Education Now
Our Children's Lives Are Being Sold By Stealth
In my ‘The Problem With Sex Ed’ I referenced the many quangos who now dominate our educational institutions. These organisations have no regulatory framework, no quality control, no parental input or oversight, and yet are funded by our taxes.
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The purpose of these organisations is not to end racism, homophobia, climate change, mental distress (as they purport to do) but to justify their existence. There is no get out clause. No strategic plan wherein they set a goal to address their ‘issue’ and have a process for the dismantling of the organisation. Otherwise why has homophobia/transphobia/biphobia INCREASED since LGBTYS and TIE have been in schools?
This should bring us all pause.
When my son was struggling at his former school my American family’s response was ‘put him in a different school’. What they didn’t understand is that due to the centralisation of the education sector in Scotland there is very little choice when it comes to schools. This (in my mind) is dangerous. Without diversity and choice there are no checks and balances.
This means bad practice becomes embedded and even when identified very difficult to dislodge due to monstrous bureaucratic structures. Because parents are not seeing how things are ‘elsewhere’ they become used to bad practice and poor standards.
One of the most enlightening things for me as a dual citizen (and in conversation with other parents who similarly have access to educational systems in other countries) is to compare what kids are doing here to family in America. (*Full disclosure America has the best and worst of everything, however where my family happens to live still maintains high educational standards and a good array of opportunities for children.) One parent whose niece visited from Germany noted that the local (what we would view as ‘high achieving’) high school was two years behind what she was doing.
Parents (unless they choose to homeschool which is constantly under scrutiny, and has been banned in such countries as Germany) are left with few options.
There are 1988 Primary schools, 361 Secondary schools, 107 Special Schools (for pupils requiring additional support) and only 71 independent schools.
Only 4.2% of schools in Scotland are not answerable to the centralised Scottish Education Authority and imposed frameworks. 95.8% follow the Scottish ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ and government diktats. Whilst there is *some* variation due to Headteacher leadership on the main it is a monolith.
Now the *only* education plan in place for this election cycle seems to be to take away tax breaks for private schools. Firstly, this is not an education plan. Secondly, this is not an economic strategy. It would be really great - like AWESOME - for a person in a position of authority who is responsible for managing and spending our tax monies TO have an *actual* economic plan. But that seems WELL outwith the realm of possibility. A post for another day…..
Even if you support the VAT plan - it is not as straightforward as it seems. As outlined in this Scottish Union for Education Newsletter ending the VAT tax relief is not a policy that has been thoroughly looked at either economically or practically. Not all children who attend private schools are rich and many that are available offer specialist support that the public sector is unable to provide.
Will the plan generate enough income to support the influx of children into the state sector from the private sector -in particular the ones with specialist needs? And what of the private schools that fill gaps in offering resources to the community the council will not? One local parent told me they decided to have their summer faire on the private school grounds as it was cheaper (much) then their OWN (state) school.
I refer back to my own personal bugbear - our *only* local council owned sports field costs £70 per hour to hire.
What is apparent to me is that ‘Big Education’ like ‘Big Government’ is a recipe for disaster. We can see how the centralised bureaucracy of our education system is an albatross to manage. Anything done needs to be addressed nationally so nothing gets done efficiently if at all. And there is no personal accountability because there is no personal control. (note: I refer back to the field above)
I am reminded that my local librarian told me it’s four forms to replace the printer cartridge (!). And that’s just for Glasgow. Glasgow Council also requires that all services are done through their ‘approved’ carriers - in the case of buses - for example - which are four times more expensive then if the school was able to hire privately. This of course all comes from education budgets - budgets which should be used for education.
Is this democracy? It certainly doesn’t sound like it. If the point of public education is to provide education via tax monies to it’s children but then shows no accountability to the electorate for it’s processes or content it starts to resemble more a mafia then an educational system.
I am concerned that with the impending educational cuts there will be more reliance on these public/private partnerships. At least in the case of private education the lines are clear. You are a consumer paying for a service. But these new quangos which are embedding themselves into our children’s lives fill a space between public and private enterprise. All the benefits of both and none of the accountability. I would say this is the privatising of our public education system by stealth except it’s worse then that because we have not actually (as citizens and parents) had the opportunity to view the goods before purchase.
In England Mum Clare Page has been at the forefront of this fight as schools refuse to release materials to parents related to sex education materials citing ‘commercial interests’ . She will be taking this case to tribunal in September. You can contribute to her case here. Anyone who purports to care about public education should watch closely. What happens here will have massive implications across the whole education sector. Not just in the case of sex ed but in all educational materials.
The other concern on the public/private partnerships that are developing at rapid pace is the harvesting of our children’s data. Kate Mason writes here on how data gathering is being embedded in the name of ‘well-being’. I am reminded of the Chinese Communist Party ‘Social Credit Score’ wherein such markers are used to nudge (and control) citizens to particular purpose.
You may be mistaken for thinking Philanthropy is giving without a return. That is not the case- Philanthropists are involved in the Social Impact Bond market- they plan on a financial return….We are looking at a transition to where the State no longer funds services- it instead reimburses (with a profit return) wealthy individuals and corporate entities who supply the initial capital for the program (which costs the government more then if they supplied the service directly). If it smacks of a transition to corporate governance, it’s because it is.
Looking through Australia’s education ‘plan’ it is remarkably similar to our own Scottish one and our ‘Four Capacities’.
Basically a lot of (dangerous) waffle. I am not saying it’s not nice sentiments. Nice sentiments don’t actually do anything though do they? Compare to Scottish Union for Education’s Plan on Funding, Curriculum, Teacher Education, Managing ASN Students, and School Ethos/Expectation and you make a decision -which you think is better for children and society? A concrete plan addressing things practically and realistically or an ideological document with no practical grounding which manipulate our children to a particular government diktat?
In a few short days our UK General Election will take place. There seems to be little appetite for educational reform. Or actual education for children full stop. Because so many of lost sight of what that (education) actually is, these hustlers have been given space to exploit the vague fog of our system at the expense of our children’s lives.
Come August when we are back in session I encourage all parents to engage in realtime with what is happening in your child’s school and classroom. There are still opportunities and spaces to ensure that our children get what they need. But it will take some effort from us and it will have to be ongoing. The Big Education Mafia want our children and only we can stop them.
