Labour Party Present Day

British Labour Party and Education in the UK Since 1997, there has been a quiet revolution in the education policies of the Labour Party. Rather than merely continuing the Conservative ideas that had been set in place by the previous leadership, we in the New Labour Party have made education a central goal of our administration. We believe that education is a basic right of all British citizens.

In the words of Prime Minister Tony Blair, our educational ideology is "based on a notion of equality that is not about outcomes or incomes, but about equal worth" (Blair 2001b). The Labor Party has already taken many concrete steps towards this goal. In contrast to the Tories, who would slash 20% from the education budget, the Labour Party is committed to ensuring a "fair deal" for everyone in the education community -- from students to parents to educators.

We believe that the Tories' plan for a "free schools" policy would result not in a more educated student body. Instead, we would see class sizes soar, lower school standards and overburdened educators (Labour Party website 2003). In recognition of the diversity of our citizenry, the New Labour Party is moving away from "one size fits all" approach to education. Instead of forcing single "free" education policy on all students, we are following a new education policy. The Labour Party's education policy recognizes that each student as individuals with special needs.

Through education, we would like to lay the foundations of a meritocratic Britain, where citizens can attain the highest levels of success through their talents and their education (Labour Party website 2003). Towards this goal, the Labour Party has committed ?75,000 to rebuilding the typical secondary school, and ?22,000 for each primary school (Labour Party website 2003). This will help to ensure that all children can go to school in safe, clean and modern surroundings that are conducive to learning.

Rebuilding schools will also provide students access to learning material, such as science laboratories, library books and computers. This is particularly important in the less affluent communities, where many students do not have access to such material or equipment at home. We have also hired more teachers, an estimated 25,000 since 1997. At present, there are a total of 423,900 teachers in the British schools. To retain these educators, worked on modernizing the teaching profession, with higher pay, more opportunities for advancement and more subsidized opportunities for educational and professional development.

In addition, there are now over 80,000 support staff to assist the teachers in their education tasks. These educators are trained and distributed among schools throughout the country (Labour Party website 2003). The "Sure Start" scheme is one of the centerpieces of the New Labour Party's educational reforms. The Sure Start programme is geared towards three- and four-year-old children. It provides additional educational support towards the early childhood education of young boys and girls who live in difficult economic or family circumstances.

In Sure Start classes, primary-school children receive an extra hour a day on both language and numbers work. The standardized tests administered on five-year-old children shows that students who have undergone the Sure Start program consistently post higher scores (Paterson 2003). This trend of improving schools and hiring more teachers is expected to continue, since the Labour Party is committed to its education expenditure. In fact, in 2002, the Labour Party announced that it would increase its education spending by 6% above inflation each year (Labour Party website 2003).

Already, these strategies are bearing fruit. The sharp increase in the standardized test scores among primary school children is early testament to the success of the Labour Party's education program. The greatest improvement in test scores was posted in schools in disadvantaged areas. These improvements extend to secondary school as well, as half of the 15-year-old students showed major improvements in their standardized tests (Paterson 2003). Considering these early successes -- particularly in schools with a high population of minority and disadvantaged students -- the Labour.