People, commentators, newspapers have talked about schools going to the dogs all my life.
Yet the vast majority of children and young people behave well in schools, are well taught and come out with good results.
But, but, but there is a problem of lack of respect and support for teachers and authority in schools, which mirrors wider trends in society.
And it has been exacerbated by 14 years of neglect and cuts by this Tory Government in our schools.
Bill Rammell claims there is a lack of respect in schools
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Recent research shows three-quarters of schools in England have faced cuts since 2010 due to Government funding decisions.
Capital spending, which creates good, safe environments for children, is £2billion less in real terms than in 2010.
And one of the first actions the Tory Government took in 2010 was to decimate Surestart, which was designed to support children and families and bring them into school better able to succeed.
And all of this feeds through into loss of respect for schools, teachers and authority.
Over 80 per cent of schools now report violent or aggressive behaviour each week.
Research shows Teaching Assistants have reported being kicked, punched and spat at by pupils in mainstream primary and secondary schools
Pupil absences have grown substantially. In some groups 20 per cent. And the Government is failing to recruit teachers that are desperately needed.
This year the Government missed its target for secondary teacher recruitment by 50 per cent.
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Bill Rammell claims there is a lack of support for teachers in school
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And instead of recruiting more UK graduates, the Tory solution-recruit teachers from overseas with “£10,000 relocation payments.”
To say the least creating incoherence in immigration policy.
And the example set to children in schools by those at the top in Government has hardly helped-repeated lying by Johnson, bullying by Raab and Williamson, unwanted harassment by Pincher, one rule for all of you and a very different one for me by Hancock-it all feeds through to kids in the classroom.
Setting standards from the top matters. And it doesn’t have to be like this.
Under the last Labour Government public spending increased by 60 per cent and huge chunk of that went to schools.
Disadvantage was targeted. And absenteeism went down, school standards went up. Teacher recruitment improved. And “Building Schools for the Future” revolutionised the school estate.
But although funding hugely matters, it needs more than that to restore respect in schools. It is a society wide problem.
We have gone from undue deference to virtual contempt for anyone in authority. We need a return to the New Labour agenda of rights and responsibilities.
Bill Rammell believes more than funding is needed to support schools
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Yes, children in schools have rights, but they also have responsibilities for how they act and talk to fellow pupils and teachers. This needs teaching and enforcing.
Young people must be taught to disagree agreeably. And acceptable and unacceptable conduct enforced.
Juvenile crime needs tackling, with a dramatic speeding up of cases dealt with by courts. It can take months or even years for the Police or CPS to make a juvenile charging decision. This really doesn’t help to enforce discipline and respect.
And we could do much worse than banning mobile phones in schools, so that at least during the day pupils don’t have access to social media which reinforces prejudice, drives division and fuels hatred.
And we desperately need a new Government to bring focus and determination on respect in schools.
And the Labour plan for schools-with free breakfast clubs in all primary schools to help drive up standards and attendance, with mental health support in schools, with 6,500 new teachers, with a new focus on speaking and literacy, and with a Young Futures program (enforcement measures effectively utilised, family interventions, use of curfews, enforcement of penalties) to tackle teenage violent crime can all help hugely help.
It really is time to bring respect back to the classroom.