Tories promise crackdown on school troublemakers
A Conservative government would take drastic action against disruptive pupils, according to party leader Michael Howard.
Launching the party’s school discipline policy, Mr Howard promised that he would give head teachers control over the expulsion of troublesome pupils and create special ‘Turnaround Schools’ for excluded pupils – with a return to mainstream education only possible after a certain standard of behaviour is achieved.
Mr Howard accused Tony Blair of having adopted a “one size fits all” system along with an “all must have prizes” system for education – something he said is undermining education achievement.
He challenged the belief that troublesome pupils should stay in mainstream education “however bad their behaviour”.
The Conservative leader also suggested that bad behaviour is linked to problems in the school curriculum saying: “If children leave primary school unable to read or write or add up properly, how can we expect them to participate in class at secondary school? If bright pupils are not intellectually challenged in the classroom, is it any wonder that they get bored and cause trouble? And if youngsters who know they are never going to make it to Oxbridge cannot learn a practical skill, they will get angry and frustrated with an inflexible academic curriculum which seems only to highlight their failings?”
Mr Howard said there is “overwhelming evidence to demonstrate that traditional teaching methods – phonics, arithmetic, times tables – are the most effective means of teaching children to read, write and add up.”, and said that parents should have the right to chose schools where there children will be educated in that way.
He also promised to give heads and governors complete control over admissions. “They will no longer be forced, as they are to be under Mr Blair’s Government, to admit pupils expelled from other schools. And we will give head teachers complete control over expulsions.”
For those pupils that are expelled, Mr Howard said he would to create ‘Turnaround Schools’ to replace the current Pupil Referral Units. There would be a dramatic expansion of places available for expelled children to 24,000, for both primary and secondary school pupils. These would be full-time schools with an emphasis on basic education and behavioural improvements. Pupils would only be readmitted in the mainstream sector if there is significant evidence of behavioural improvement, which would be recognised by a formal certificate.
