Liberal Democrats and Education - no longer a vote winner?

Written by John Howson and published in JOHN HOWSON is a director of Education Data Surveys and President of the Liberal Democrat Education Association. He started his teaching career in Tottenham and has been a lecturer, civil servant as well as working in the private sector. He joined the Party in 1996. on Sat 12th Jan 2008

Liberal Democrats have created some key policies for education during the past twenty years. Throughout the Major government, a 'penny on income tax' to challenge the Tories lack of spending on schools; the battle for effective early education, and free higher education for all to counter Labour's tuition and top-up fees policy. However, where do we stand today? At a time when the central ground is the key to winning in politics, and extra taxation has been ruled out, what can we offer that is distinctive on education?

Our policy of smaller classes means extra spending that has to be paid for from somewhere. But it does chime with our belief that effective education for all means that different groups may need different amounts of help. Those who don't want the help of the state can go their own way, but shouldn't expect any assistance - no vouchers for all. Amongst those who do take up the state's offer of free schooling, there are those who can supplement it with extra resources, perhaps for coaching in mathematics or the sciences. But what of those who cannot or will not do so? Should their children be disadvantaged?

It is difficult to make the case for extra funds for those who choose to discount the value of education, but, for those who cannot afford to supplement the state's contributions, should they be told that is all that is available? There is a parallel with NICE and the economics of drug approval. This is why our decisions on how we finance education reflect our values. It has always been accepted that those who have physical or mental challenges can access extra resources, but what of those in poverty or with other needs such as English as a second language? Is our notion of equality, the same for all, as with our approach to tuition fees, or a notion of resourcing at the level needed to achieve a set standard of education? This is the dilemma for every teacher every day. For instance, putting children in rows and teaching from the front makes it look as if all are receiving the same amount of attention, but in practice they aren't.

Much of the funding for education now comes from the national government who also control the largest item of expenditure, salaries. If we are to have a distinctive education policy it cannot duck the question of resource allocation. In Labour's unequal society we must press for an education policy that does not 'deprive the deprived', but rather seeks to offer the next generation a better start than some of their parents' received from the state. Local and central government must work together, not just as guardians of the efficient use of resources but also as guarantors of a better life for all our young people; to do anything else would not be in line with our core beliefs, for freedom cannot come without the power that education provides.