Without question, Labour has transformed education: childcare places doubled, free early-years education for three and four year-olds, massive investment in schools, and the best ever results all tell the story. The result is we now have the foundations of the strong and vibrant education system that modern Britain needs.
Yet challenges remain. Why would any employer pay people here for highly skilled work if others elsewhere, equally well educated, will do it for half our wages? As more and more work can be automated or ‘off-shored’ there are obvious threats to our standard of living. The truth is that in a global economy, we will get paid premium wages only if we offer uniquely attractive products or services. This demands a skilled and creative workforce and one that keeps learning.
Furthermore, despite the overall rise in attainment, the gap between our poor and better-off children remains. Stalling the widening inequalities of the 1980s and 1990s was an achievement; but for progressives this can never be enough. Closing the gap between rich and poor and raising standards for all must be our twin objectives.
So, in addition to delivering our promises, what else would accelerate progress, especially for disadvantaged children? Here are four ideas.
First, the return on investment in early years, especially for poor children, is indisputable, adding significantly to long-term GDP. But quality must be high and provision used by those with most to gain. More than 95 per cent of three and four year-olds take up our early-years provision; but there is a 15 per cent difference between poor areas and the rest. This presents a challenge for government at both the local and national level: local authorities and children’s centres must get a lot better at engaging disadvantaged families and getting their children into early-years settings; and government has to address quality by doing for the children’s workforce what we have already done for teaching.
Second, schools must focus relentlessly on each child’s individual progression, across the entire ability range. School funding structures should reinforce this. To promote this, we may also need smaller classes, more classroom support and training for teachers. The Childcare Act 2006 places a new duty on local authorities to improve outcomes for all under-fives and reduce inequalities between them. David Cameron’s Tories contested this at every stage; they simply couldn’t understand why the gap mattered. As a clear dividing line, therefore, we should also consider placing this duty on schools, and for children up to the age of 19.
Third, we must recognise the importance of ‘non-cognitive skills’ like resilience, teamwork and problem solving – increasingly prized by employers – and get better at nurturing them. Good parenting helps young children to develop these attributes, so this is one of many reasons why supporting parenting matters. Better-off children tend to acquire these skills from paid-for, out-of-school activities, but poor families can’t afford such extras. Radically transforming the level and range of sports, music and other positive activities in our schools and youth provision would disproportionately benefit the disadvantaged and help close this gap, as well as yielding other social benefits.
Fourth, the Leitch Review of Skills is just the latest report to cite the need for a ‘culture of learning’ in our society. This is a huge challenge, as we are starting with one of the lowest staying-on rates in the developed world. Furthermore, the adults with most to gain from learning are least likely to be doing so.
Therefore, we need to empower citizens to take more responsibility for their learning and ensure employers respond too – being prepared to use compulsory action with them if voluntarism fails. And we must be creative: the trade union tradition of workplace learning needs supporting and we must exploit the potential of ICT. Learning must become central in our communities, as in Tower Hamlets, where ‘the dusty library’ has become ‘the cool and welcoming learning centre’.
Creating a culture of learning, from cradle to grave, is crucial, not only for our future prosperity but for social justice. It must be central to Labour’s progressive vision – that’s how important it is, for us and the country.
