Industry News
State interference in primary schools has negative effect
Posted on 29th February 2008
A new report from the Cambridge University-based Primary Review has found that increased state regulation and control over primary schools had led to a worsening of educational standards.
Unlike private schools, which have far more freedom to set their own agenda, the report warns that non-fee paying primaries are now subject to a "state theory of learning".
Criticising the mico-management of state schools by the government recently, Richard Tice, chairman of governors at Northampton Academy, singled out the lack of outside management in independent academy schools as "the main driver of their success".
The Primary Review also said starkly that the quality of primary school education had declined over the past two decades because of "the narrowing of the curriculum and the intensity of test preparation".
By focusing so closely on literacy and numeracy, the report's authors argue, children's broader education has suffered.
This report may now influence the debate on the government's plans for a detailed educational framework for the under-fives.
The early years foundation stage plans, which have been widely criticised by independent kindergartens, early-childhood experts and concerned parents, will be compulsory for anyone working with young children from September and set 69 goals that children must have achieved by the age of five.