Children from Britain’s poorest families “pay the price” for failed experiments by politicians on both the left and right, according to Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw, in a wide-ranging attack that cites “bleating” parents and weak teaching among the causes of educational blight.
“As I begin my last few months as chief inspector, it saddens me immeasurably to say frankly that we are still letting down our poorest children and that if things do not change fundamentally, we will continue to do so,” Wilshaw concludes, rubbishing government reforms since the 1960s.
According to Wilshaw, while leftwing governments in England peddled “snake oil”, those on the right were guilty of “wilful neglect” and viewed children failed by the school system as “just useful fodder for factories and shops”.
Wilshaw’s strongest language comes in thinlyveiled criticism of the current government’s policies, which envisage failing schools being passed between sponsors to create competition in school improvement.
“Today, the right has largely ditched patrician disdain but still believes that a laissez-faire, market-based approach will resolve all our problems. It won’t. Schools will wither on the vine as they did 20 or 30 years ago,” Wilshaw will say, according to a text of his speech distributed by Ofsted.
Return to grammar school selection would be disaster, says Ofsted chief
“Hastily rebranded schools in deprived areas soon find that the magic of the market hasn’t eradicated underlying problems. But when they fail, as so many do, it is the system, or reactionary leftists, or those old hippies in Ofsted that are to blame.
Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, spoke at the Festival of Education held at Wellington College, Berkshire.
It is good to speak on this momentous day in British history when the decision to stay or leave the European Union will have a profound effect on the future of our country.
I do hope though, when the decision is made and the dust settles, people will see that despite the sound and fury, those on both sides of the argument have spoken with passion for what they truly believe.
In the same way, I hope that when my term of office ends in a few months’ time, people will understand that what I have said and done has been motivated by a passionate desire to improve the lives of children and young people.
If I have stirred up emotions from time to time and caused offence by speaking bluntly, then I apologise. But I have been a Chief Inspector in a hurry, impatient to bring about improvement through inspection.
I leave office knowing that, although our inspection frameworks are now tougher and more demanding than 5 years ago, many more children are in good and outstanding schools than ever before. I do hope that this is recognised by those who have, from time to time, questioned my approach and sometimes taken my words completely out of context.
Our education system is miles better than it was 20 years ago when Ofsted came into being. And each year since, we’ve seen incremental improvement.
Our primary schools, in particular, are doing well, although there is much to do in many of our secondary schools. So why is our education system still mediocre and not up there with the best in the world?
Do read the whole speech especially if you live in England!
