Longer school days

The Labour Party has said that the school day should be longer to prepare pupils for work, and, said the Shadow Education Secretary,  a longer day would help prevent teenagers joining gangs and would provide them with a quiet place to study.   He went on to announce a review of how the classroom could become more relevant to the modern workplace, which would also address employers’ concerns at the number of school leavers who are ill-prepared for work.

The review is to be led by Barry Sheerman MP, and will take evidence from teachers, parents, businesses and universities and will look at international best practice on how to prepare young people for employment.

Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, agrees that longer school hours could improve pupils’ standards.   He said, “Stephen Twigg is absolutely right to call for longer school days. They can raise standards particularly for those children from the poorest backgrounds.   We welcome his support and look forward to working with him to persuade the teaching unions that they should embrace longer school days.”

So while, like Nick, we probably do agree with Labour’s views on this, we have a sneaking feeling that they think they are still the government as they announce an official review!