Free schools must be open to all, says Nick Clegg

Lib Dem leader says schools will be acceptable only if they reduce social segregation rather than entrenching inequality of opportunity The government’s new free schools must be open to all children and not just a “privileged few”, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, has said. In a speech delivered as the first wave of the new-style schools prepared to open for the academic year, Clegg said they would be acceptable only if they reduce social segregation rather than entrenching inequalities of opportunity. He called on the education secretary, Michael Gove, to ensure that the second wave of the free schools, to be announced within the next few weeks, are in poorer neighbourhoods or areas with a shortage of school places. In an attempt to reassure Liberal Democrat sceptics that the policy will improve social mobility, Clegg insisted that he would never allow independent schools within the state sector to be run for profit . The free schools policy is seen as a distinctly Tory strand of the coalition agreement, with Lib Dem activists voting against it at their party conference last year amid concerns that it is socially divisive. Clegg acknowledged that the programme – in which groups of parents, charities or any other organisation can bid to open schools where existing provision is poor – is “controversial” and carries “risks”. But he continued: “I am confident we have mitigated those risks to make sure this is now a policy which will promote higher standards, better integration and fairer chances, especially for children from the most deprived backgrounds. “Let me be clear what I want to see from free schools. I want them to be available to the whole community, open to all children and not just the privileged few. I want them to be part of a school system that releases opportunity, rather than entrenching it. “They must not be the preserve of the privileged few – creaming off the best pupils while leaving the rest to fend for themselves, causing problems for and draining resources from other nearby schools. So let me give you my assurance. I would never tolerate that.” He said the coalition had “made it clear that our over-riding social policy objective is improving social mobility … making sure what counts in our society are ability and drive, not privilege and good connections”. “Free schools will only be acceptable so long as they promote those goals,” he added. “That’s why I am pleased that half of the first wave will be in deprived areas, and the vast majority in areas where they desperately need school places. “Michael Gove will be making decisions on the second wave over the coming weeks. I want to see all of them in poorer neighbourhoods, or in areas crying out for more school places.” Rejecting suggestions that private companies could run free schools for profit, the Lib Dem leader said: “To anyone who is worried that, by expanding the mix of providers in our education system, we are inching towards inserting the profit motive into our school system – again, let me reassure you: yes to greater diversity, yes to more choice for parents, but no to running schools for profit, not in our state-funded education sector.” Gove, who has championed the flagship schools policy, said on Sunday only that the free school system did not need profit “at the moment”. “Nick Clegg and I are completely agreed on this. The Conservative election manifesto said that we didn’t need to have profit at the moment. Nick doesn’t believe that we need to have profit at the moment, and we don’t,” the Tory education secretary told BBC 1′s Andrew Marr Show . Asked about the future, he added: “Well we’re in a coalition now, and we’re working to ensure that we get more free schools.” The first 24 free schools are scheduled to open within the next month. The Department for Education (DfE) said 15 were oversubscribed for their first year. Half are in the 30% most deprived communities, according to DfE analysis. Clegg said free schools will be allowed to prioritise disadvantaged youngsters in the admissions process, incentivised to do so by the extra funding they will bring in with the pupil premium. “The more of them the school takes, the more money it gets. That’s a simple but crucial financial incentive,” he said. “No-one has reformed the admissions code like this for years. In future, free schools must use this power to do all they can to make sure that they have the same proportion of free school meals pupils as the local average at least.” Free schools Schools Michael Gove Nick Clegg School admissions guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.