Education Policy

Education Policy Mike Day - Cabinet Minister One of the first guest lecturers to visit us was Cabinet Minister Mike Day and he arrived to talk about education policy. The three main points he talked about was what it is, why is it needed and where is it developed. We can define education policy as a collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. The way our schools and education systems work reflects political opinion across the country and because education occurs in many forms throughout many institutions it can affect a lot of people. Early childhood, foundation phase, school up until the age of 16, college and universities are just a number of examples that would be affected by education policy. Mr Day went on to bare the question, do we structure our policy to create a workforce for socio-economic reasons? I think structuring our education system to give individuals the best chance in working life is very important for our country but it is not the only thing we need to instil in individuals. You also have to look at creating well rounded individuals that can live in a healthy society. Individuals who are educated to live healthy lifestyles, have control over ones emotions and have a reasonable moral foundation. We went on to look at school age, should education be free and should it be selective. In 2007 the department for education and skills confirmed that they had plans to raise the school leaving age to 18. This meant students had to stay in school, training or workplace training of some sort until they reached the age of 18. This is a huge movement in education policy and the government state that their intension is to tackle the problem of young people leaving education without qualifications or specific workplace skills. Mr Day went on t ask a very important question- Who should decide on which policies our country follows? The two names that kept cropping up were politicians and practitioners. Both candidates had credible arguments but for entirely different reasons. Politicians are often well respected individuals which are where they are because they have been elected to represent the people. They also “hold the purse string” as Mr Day described it. They have the necessary funds to take the ideas that many have and then put it to action. However, practitioners have a strong claim because they know exactly how education establishments are run. They know how it works in the practice unlike politicians and can see things from the schools perspective. But a negative would be they only see it from their point of view and may be unable to look at the bigger picture and repercussions that could occur from drastic change. What Mr Day suggested was that maybe a meeting of minds would be perfect where all theories and points can be listened to and examined before making informed decisions. Finally Mr Day went on to explain where education policy is developed. There is the UK level followed by the Welsh Government then the local authority and finally the school and governing body level. We went on to look at each individual level and the rules which are compulsory for that level. For example on a UK level there is currently a compulsory school age of 16 shortly moving up to 18 and another example would be that teachers pay is currently level across the country but again that could change. On the Welsh Government level we currently have welsh medium, the foundation phase, no SATS and no academies which are common throughout England. Wales also helps fund tuition fees for Welsh students living in Wales. Local authorities are responsible for a number of things such as distribution and monitoring of funding for the schools and are the direct employers of all staff in community schools. All in all I find this particular lecture the most interesting could go even further writing about this specific topic. Mike Day has definitely broadened my knowledge on education policy and probably more important, fuelled an interest in the subject.