29 July 2005
Schoolchildren from the poorest families are failing to match the attainment levels of their more affluent counterparts, the education secretary admitted this week.
Ruth Kelly said more attention needed to be paid to closing the gap between the performance of rich and poor children.
'We can see that the attainment gap has not narrowed in English or maths. This is something I worry about,' she said in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on July 26.
'As a government, we must not hide from this. If we are not closing the gap, then our ability to ensure that education helps in our drive for social justice will be severely limited.'
Focusing on early years education was vital, Kelly said. She announced that free books are to be given to all pre-school children in an expansion of the Bookstart scheme.
Under the programme, every one and two-year-old will receive a satchel with books inside, while every three and four-year-old will receive a box containing books and crayons.
Kelly said the scheme, the first of its type in the world, would be a boost to every baby and toddler in England.
'Through the Bookstart programme we are helping to underpin children's learning and development from birth, and give parents the opportunity and tools to engage with and support their child's early learning,' she said.
Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, welcomed the focus of Kelly's speech but urged her to recognise that many schools in deprived areas had made substantial progress.
'All of us in education should concentrate on how we can give further support to schools in areas of social disadvantage,' Sinnott said.
But he added that rolling out the choice agenda was not the way to do it. 'Reducing class size and making a range of extra support such as additional staff will help schools in the most challenging areas.'
The Department for Education and Skills has also confirmed that it will press ahead with plans to give schools more control over their budgets, although it has agreed to introduce the changes more gradually.
Schools will receive a two-year budget settlement early next year and their first three-year budgets from 2008/09 in line with the revised Spending Review cycle.
But proposals to shift school budgets from a financial to an academic year basis have been postponed amid practical concerns.
'It makes sense to let the other changes we are introducing in 2006 bed down before making this further change,' schools minister Jacqui Smith said.
PFjul2005
