‘Rip down barriers holding children here back’
Champion of young calls for ‘rocket-boost’ funding
THE CHILDREN’S Commissioner today calls for “systemic longterm change” so every pupil in the North has the same chances as youngsters in London and the South-East.
Anne Longfield, who comes from Otley, has claimed the region’s schools and teachers need the same funding “rocket-boosters” the capital has enjoyed over the past two decades.
Claiming “some schools in the North are still fighting for scraps”, Ms Longfield says a defining test of Boris Johnson’s commitment to the region and working-class families who backed him at the General Election will be the Government’s ability to “tear down the barriers that have held back too many northern kids”.
Last night, the Government said closing the North-South attainment gap was integral to its “social justice” agenda.
But Ms Longfield, writing in
The Yorkshire Post, says: “Politicians should never forget that one day those children will be adults with a vote.
“They will judge whether the promises made to improve the North were all just election hot air or whether it is their generation that finally benefits from the promise of the Northern Powerhouse.”
Ms Longfield claims there is a clear case for extra money for under-performing schools – special incentives to persuade the very best teachers to relocate here and extra tutoring for children struggling with literacy and numeracy from an early age.
These, she adds, are all measures that transformed the performance of London schools in the early 2000.
“Closing the North-South divide has to mean closing the attainment gap between the richest parts of the country and the poorest Northern regions,” she says.
“No child in a mainstream school should be leaving with next to no qualifications after 15 years of education. Every child growing up in the North deserves the same chances as a child in London or the South-East.
“Spending billions on infrastructure schemes that create jobs for a few years and then returning to normal just won’t be enough. We need systemic, longterm change that gives every child growing up in the North a chance to do well.”
Investment in education is a key element of the Power Up The North campaign which The Yorkshire Post launched this summer with over 30 newspapers.
Ms Longfield’s intervention comes after the Government’s legislative programme made only passing reference to education.
It said: “To ensure every child has access to high-quality education my ministers will increase levels of funding per pupil in every school.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn complained the Queen’s Speech was “miserably weak” on education before Mr Johnson promised to work “flat out” to deliver “a new golden age”.