Down the drain
The House of Commons educational select committee has found that there is no proof that the amount of money being thrown at our education system is effecting any significant change.The chairman was quoted as saying:
It is no good just putting money in without reform and without very
carefully checking which policies add value over time and which don't.
Of course, I don't think that this will have the slightest impact on Labour's poll numbers whatsoever. The Conservative Party's attempts to counter Labour on education have been anaemic at best and deservedly make little impact. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely detest Labour party policy on education - but I think that national attitudes towards education for the last thirty or so years are a large part of the reason as to the mess we are in right now.
The problem for the Conservatives is that the current Labour line is very easy to swallow for the electorate. More money = better schools and hospitals is an equation which seems to make sense. Of course, it doesn't. Institutional reforms are needed to make sure that the money spent gets to the right places (something which in the short term will require increased government spending). Ploughing money into a wasteful system, as the Government are currently doing, achieves nothing. The Commons select committee has proved this. Let's hope a major party can make a major issue out of it.
posted by Ken @ 4:53 PM
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