Major parties in the United Kingdom (UK) are promising to overhaul education by implementing multibillion-pound education policies. However, a think-tank has said that these proposals will not help the needy pupils. They have also criticized some of the proposals being promised by these lawmakers, calling them unrealistic.
The Education Policy Institute (EPI), a think-tank that addresses education policies, has said in a report that the promises being made by the major parties will not help the poor students. They said that Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos were overly ambitious and would end up failing to help address problems they are meant to address.
These major parties have been campaigning hard in this electioneering period and making multi-million-pound price proposals on how to go about the education system. However, a closer look at what they are promising cannot be achieved according to the thinktank.
Natalie Perera, the EPI’s executive director, said,
We conclude that although all the parties have set out bold aspirations to improve attainment and narrow inequality and opportunity gaps, the policies taken together are unlikely to deliver on their aspirations.
Promises on education policies to be implemented
Some of the key issues being addressed by the major parties are the scrapping of Ofsted and support for the early years of education. The thinktank highlighted some of the challenges the lawmakers will face when implementing these education policies.
They highlighted that the Conservative Party was failing to address enough about the support for early education. Pereira said that the Labor Party had made a lot of good promises, such as improving the quality of early education and access for disadvantaged children, big increases in school and college funding, mental health, teacher pay.
Cautious of defending Ofsted
The Labor Party would not be able to implement these education policies because of the wholesale accountability reforms that run in the Labor Party. They also highlighted that the Labor Party might not have the ambition to implement their education policies.
EPI also criticized the move to scrap Ofsted and replace it with a new watchdog. They were, however, cautious of defending Ofsted based on reports from both educators and researchers who have made cases on the need to replace the watchdog. They argued that it would be better to reform Ofsted than to replace it.
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