We live in interesting political times. Amidst all of the turbulence this week in Westminster, a new Secretary of State for Education was briefly appointed after Nadhim Zahawi’s promotion to Chancellor. Michelle Donelan, who was previously the universities minister became the third Education Secretary this academic year. But her tenure lasted a short time, resigning after less than three days.
It has now been announced that James Cleverly has been appointed Education Secretary. Hopefully his tenure will be slightly longer. Mr Cleverly has been invited to the Schools North East annual Summit 2022 taking place in October, if you would like to register for the event you can via this link.
Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East commented:
“Even though Ms Donelan’s tenure sets a new record, unfortunately, this is not a new development in terms of the Secretary of State for Education position, with the average length of tenure being just under 2 years since it was created in 1945. This isnt good enough for such an important role, with incumbents generally seeing it as a stepping stone to ‘greater’ things. Education policy requires a long-term focus as we outlined in the Schools North East ‘Manifesto for North East Education’. Real, lasting, positive change will not occur if there is not someone in this position for a sustained period of time championing evidence-based, long-term policies, solidly grounded in the expertise of the teaching profession.”
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, concurred saying:
“We have to express our concern at the high turnover rate of Education Secretaries. Education is a vital public service and a complex sector which requires deep understanding, knowledge and continuity. This constant chopping and changing does not provide stable leadership.
Nadhim Zahawi has been in the post for less than a year during which time he has introduced a schools white paper which proposes very significant attainment targets and structural changes to the education system with no real idea of how either of these objectives will be achieved. A large section of the accompanying Schools Bill has had to be withdrawn because of criticism that it represented an unacceptable centralisation of power.”
In the Schools North East Manifesto for Education we recommended that policies should have a long term, 10 year plus view of education as ‘constant changes to policy and practice serve only to frustrate school leaders, drive good people from the profession, waste public money, and prevent proper assessment of whether policies are succeeding.’
Longer term, properly resourced policies can affect real change as evidenced by the Opportunity North East (ONE) programme that Schools North East lobbied long and hard to bring to the region. This provided £24 million of new investment for NE schools, focussing on vital issues such as transition, recruitment and retention, careers, and personalised support for schools in certain Ofsted categories.
With a new Secretary of State, it remains to be seen whether this brings new ideas and a new direction. It is currently unclear what this will mean for the new White Paper and Schools Bill. Schools North East is hosting a White Paper Academisation Event, free to schools, to help them navigate this new environment. If you would like to attend please click here.
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