Starmer risks union wrath by supporting return to school call
SIR KEIR Starmer today tries to crank up the pressure on Boris Johnson over the turmoil in schools by saying for the first time that he ‘expects’ all pupils to be back in the classrooms next month – despite opposition from pro-Labour unions.
The Labour leader responds to Mr Johnson’s declaration in last week’s Mail on Sunday that it was a ‘moral duty’ for children to return to fulltime schooling, arguing that the Prime Minister has a ‘moral responsibility’ to ensure that it happens.
Writing exclusively on this page, left, Sir Keir also takes aim at the A-level chaos engulfing the Government, saying that the ‘anger and frustration I have heard from families over recent days about the exams fiasco has been profound’.
It comes after nearly 40 per cent of A- level grades awarded on Thursday were l ower than teachers’ predictions, prompting anger among t he 280, 000 s t udents affected.
Ministers and regulators now face the looming prospect of a damaging court battle over the algorithm used to decide A-level results. Legal efforts are being spearheaded by Foxglove, a non-profit organisation which campaigns against the misuse of digital technology.
More than 215,000 people have signed a supportive petition in two days, following a similar campaign in Scotland which led to lowered marks being reverted back to teachers’ estimates.
Under-fire Education Secretary Gavin Will i a mson a nnounced yesterday that the Government Minister’s Cabinet role questioned amid chaos would cover the cost of schools in England appealing against the decisions. The chaos has l ed t o s peculation about hi s Cabinet future.
Urging Mr Johnson to ditch the system in favour of teacher assessments, Sir Keir says: ‘Young people – particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds – have been robbed by a system that judged them on their postcode, not their ability or effort.
‘The stories we have heard from pupils have been devastating.’
No 10 is likely to be angered by Sir Keir’s remarks on returning pupils to the classrooms, given t hat t he objections raised by Labour-supporting teachers’ unions on safety grounds pose the biggest threat to the reopening.
Sir Keir, whose 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter were able to attend lessons at their local state school in North London during lockdown because his wife Victoria is an NHS key worker, has previously only said that he ‘wants’ all children in school.
But now he writes: ‘I don’t just want all children back at school next month, I expect them back at school. No ifs, no buts, no equivocation. Let me be equally clear: it is the Prime Minister’s responsibility to guarantee children get the education they need and the benefit of being back with their teachers and classmates.’
Mr Williamson said the Government would cover the appeal fees i n a bid t o ensure t hat head teachers were not deterred from
making appeals. The Department of Education said it had introduced a ‘ triple- lock system’, meaning those pupils ‘unhappy with their calculated grades can appeal on the basis of a valid mock result’ or sit an exam in the autumn.
But exams watchdog Ofqual published guidance yesterday which said that, in the case of an appeal based on mock exams where the centre assessed grade is lower than the mock exam result, students will instead receive the centre-assessed grade. Kate Green MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said: ‘Gavin Williamson promised to give students a triple lock, but instead he left many devastated by unfair exam results, and now his commitment to give them another chance is rapidly unravelling. Having promised that students will be able to use a valid mock result, the reality is that many will not receive these grades even if they represent a student’s best result. The latest chaos is the inevitable consequence of this Government’s shambolic approach to exams.’ The row comes ahead of the release of GCSE results on Thursday, which Ministers fear will trigger a fresh storm of protests.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir is being urged by one of Labour’s biggest private donors to end the party’s dependency on union cash. Wealthy businessman John Mills also aimed a thinly-veiled swipe at Unite union boss Len McCluskey for trying to ‘call the shots’ on Labour policy on the back of his union’s massive donations to the party.