Blair's Education Reforms, Has Education Been Improved During "The Blair Years"?

Question

Blair claimed that Labour's multi-billion pound programme to renovate England's classrooms illustrated how he had lived up to his now famous promise to prioritise "education, education, and education".

The measure of Mr. Blair's success is dependent on whether you place a greater value on the buildings in which students attend school or the level of education achieved within them.

Do you believe Blair should be able to claim success in education simply because he improved the buildings in which children are educated or do you believe he failed as the actual education students recieve within the buildings has not improved and, in many instances, become worse?

For an article including figures related to the current state of education and Blair's reasons for claiming he has reformed education visit http://bestnewsfirst.blogspot.com/2007/05/blair-attempts-to-pomote-his-legacy-of.html

Answer 1

The focus is wrong in schools because of the hopeless OFSTED system. My wife works in a school and everything is geared to doing fancy planning, targets and kiddies work everywhere and standards of education are in decline. I didn't say it's in decline, teachers say it's in decline.



The only success Blair can claim to have achieved is how he f****d the whole country up, let alone education.



People must be coming out of school even thicker because idiots keep voting for them.

Answer 2

No.



Children generally at school can't spell, have limited knowledge of puncutation, poor reading skills (can't bothered). The numeracy is at an all time low - fractions? percentages? areas etc are all foreign words as far as our children within the education system is concerned.



Children have been encouraged to tick boxes rather than thinking about something, subesquently cannot argue aa point in an essay. Part of the problem is that teachers have far too much paper work to do away from the classroom that they have become demoralised and in some cases, take the easy way out and do the least they can. Another reason why schools are failing our children is the lack of overall discipline, individual self-discipline and accepting responsibility for own actions.



Much more cash than ever has been pumped into the education system so why is there a shortage of qualified teachers?



Why did Tony Blair's Academies fail?



Until schools return to the basics and forget computers as a way of learning the better. Computers have a place, but they can't replace the teacher nor the book as a way of learning.

Answer 3

He certainly has spent money on Education. But many schools had come to the end of their shelf life and would have been replaced by any government (especially in my city).

However, some people (not just daily mail readers - voice of reason) claim that Education has been dumbed down. Particularly Business leaders who state that young people are coming into the work place with the lack of skills that are required. Certainly if you put any exam paper from today next to an exam paper of an earlier period, it will be significantly easier. You can compare them too if you like - there will be examples on the web.

Answer 4

I can tell you from first hand experience that education in Britain (especially Scotland) is going down the tubes and has been for the past 10 years.

Despite the "evidence" which points the other way, the standards of school and education authorities has decreased dramatically, and the support for children with special needs is appalling.

The first place the councils go to if they need extra money is the fund for education they are given. And once they get that money from the government there are no proper tabs kept on it, and no-one knows whether it has really been used for education or not.

This probably sounds like a harsh attack on the reforms Blair has introduced (presumably with the best of intentions), but unfortunately things haven't quite gone to plan, and Britain's children are suffering for it.

Answer 5

As V O R has stated, the Tories are now fully behind Labour. As they have been for the last 10 years. On the vine show (radio 2) today, a Tory MP claimed they have decided Labours education policies are good and they support it fully. Then he claimed that the Tories would do the same thing, only better. Yes he was a Muppet!



Another example of a Tory govt with no ideas of their own who are going to jump on board everything Labour have built up and claim that they will do 'just that bit better'



That is, until we vote them in. Then its Lies Lies Lies till the economy is ruined jobs are lost and people are made homeless.



LABOUR LABOUR LABOUR Mick

Answer 6

I was taught to swim before the three r`s so looking back to the 1950`s I would say the Education system has systematically let every child down since then & where have all the costs for all this gone apart from the pockets of m.p`s

& any other respective governments since then.Shame really England used to have a Educational system that was admired around the world.

Answer 7

phonetic reading, calculators and computers. In my school days we used our brains.look at children`s questions spelling no use .computers etc what happens when they go wrong?tills add up when u have been served,time wasted, when I did work with money I added up as I went along but now it`s easier to wait for machines to do this while brains r used 2 curse and seemingly not for any thing else,why not go back to the "3 Rs" and use the brain and develop skills.

Answer 8

No he has not lived up to his promise. The education system is worse now than it has ever been. We have 'cover supervisors' teaching our children cheaply. Teachers skiving off 'attending to paperwork' amd more Micky Mouse qualifications than Disneyland.

It is a fiasco, and I used to teach in FE, no more...

Answer 9

No it hasn't. They have just lowered the pass marks and made the exams easier. The proof of that is that there are so many graduates who can't spell or construct a grammatical sentence, and who are totally inarticulate.

Answer 10

Oh dear, you're at it again.



WARNING to everyone, this person is trying to drum up support for his rather tedious right wing political blog by linking to it in the questions he poses. Check his other Q&As - all link to the same dull blog!!



And in answer to the question, yes it has improved. I note even your beloved Tory party has admitted just today that Blair was right and they were wrong on education policy.

Answer 11

Ay was eudicated unda blars eudicashin sistim an cannt sea enthin rong wiv it.