CES News
September/October 2008 
Inside this Issue
+ + + + + + + +
CES held a Fringe Meeting
at the Birmingham Party Conference,
in association with Cambridge Assessment,
called “Schools for the 21st Century”.
The Speakers were:-
Nick Gibb MP, Shadow Schools Minister,
and Bene’t Steinberg, Cambridge Assessment.
In the Chair - Dr Andrew Povey, Vice President CES.
A report of the Meeting will appear shortly.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Diary Dates
Tuesday 20 January 2009 - Douglas Carswell MP will speak at the House of Commons on the book he has recently co-authored on what the Conservatives should do in government.
Saturday 14 March 2009 - At Conservative Headquarters, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP
Tuesday 28 April 2009 - Michael Gove MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, will speak at the House of Commons.
Saturday 27 June 2009 - At Conservative Headquarters, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP.
+ + + + + +
Our New Chairman
At the AGM in May our New Chairman, Robert Pettigrew, was elected.
Robert works at Parliament
as Researcher to a Conservative MP and a Conservative Peer, both of whom hold front bench responsibilities. A former Portsmouth City Councillor, he now lives in West Sussex. He was candidate for Lanark and Hamilton East at the last General Election, and managed to increase the Conservative vote. Robert has quickly got his teeth into the new job, meeting Shadow Education Ministers and a number of groups in the education world. He said, “I want to build on the work done in the last three years, and raise the CES profile still further. We are seeing a steadily increasing number of new members as teachers and others involved in education become more and more disillusioned with Labour’s record and want to help the Conservatives prepare for improving education in government after the next election.”
* * * * * * * * *
Adam Afriyie tells CES about his plans for the Innovation Agenda
Adam Afriyie MP, the Shadow Minister for Innovation, spoke at the last CES evening meeting at the House of Commons. 
He said that innovation is the introduction of new ideas, methods and services which create jobs. But innovation is also about helping children and young people enjoy learning, and find a future career which will give them a happy, rewarding life. People who decide these things for themselves are happier and more productive. We should always look for the shortest, quickest and simplest way to do things.
Labour has put disincentives to innovation into the education system. The careers service working with schools and careers advice at universities are not particularly good. People are taking university courses in subjects where there are few available jobs afterwards. One idea would be to have a website showing the number of people studying each university course and the number of jobs available in that subject.
The Labour government’s refusal to fund second degrees affects people who are re-skilling because of job loss, or women returning to work after having families. If people do not complete a university course they should not be regarded as failures. Lifelong learning means they should be able to come back to it later in life. On-line learning, modular learning, the Open University and Birkbeck can all make a useful contribution in this area.
Ours is the only country in the world which allows children to specialize so early, and the only one which doesn’t insist on their learning mathematics and their native language to the age of 18. Universities and colleges are greatly concerned at the literacy and numeracy standards of entrants. We should be making sure that all children of 9 or 10 can read and write properly, and do basic maths; otherwise we have failed them.
The answer is not just more money. It is providing good teachers. The “Teach First” initiative is bringing some excellent minds into teaching, and some of them will decide to stay and make a career of it.
Labour confuses change with innovation. Their plans for higher education fall into this category. Young people are now looking at the cost of a university education, the loan burden it leaves them with at the start of their career, and the level of graduate unemployment, and are deciding not to bother. In fact probably some of them would find themselves much happier following a different route. The degree should not be considered as the Holy Grail. We should not say that there is a target of 50% of young people to go to university. We should say that the funding is there for any who want to go, but we should not press those who would be happier and better off elsewhere. We should make it possible for people to go to university at any time in life, for up-skilling, re-skilling, etc, but should not set target numbers.
The independence of universities and FE colleges should be enhanced. There should be a greater role for endowment funds and bursaries. At the moment, people are put off donating to universities because they feel a similar amount of funding will be clawed back by government.
We must emphasize our commitment to skills. We do not value tradesmen in this country. Although the Labour government claim there are five times as many apprenticeships now as there were under the last Conservative government, their higher figure includes any work-based training. In fact the number of real Level 3 apprenticeships is going down. A lot of work-based training is very narrow and specific to an individual employer. We must ensure that qualifications are transferable.
Adam ended by saying that it should be people driving the innovation agenda forward, not government. A Conservative government should remove obstacles and barriers, and then back off and allow diversity. It should allow society to develop by itself. That takes courage, but it is responding to what people want.
________________________________________________________________________
E-Mail Addresses
If you want to be as up-to-date as possible, please make sure that we have your current E-mail address by sending it to:-
cnes_tg@btinternet.com
= = = = = = =
Check the CES Blog regularly - www.cnes4education.wordpress.com
x x x x x x x x
News Snippets
Conservatives are to offer employers a £2,000 bonus, in addition to the money they already receive, for taking on and training apprentices as builders, plumbers and electricians. David Willetts has said that the goal would be the training of 10,000 apprentices in all, and said the money would be found by refocusing money from the department’s budget. He added, “For the first time a government would be covering the full cost of an apprenticeship. We’re saying to employers we’ll lower the hassle and give you a bigger incentive.”
* * * *
You couldn’t make it up!
Apparently a chief examiner for an examination board has awarded two marks to a candidate for writing “f*** off” in answer to a GCSE question asking “Describe the room you are sitting in.” The marks were awarded for accurate spelling and successfully conveying a meaning!
Other markers have been advised to do the same, and Ofqual has refused to condemn the practice.
* * * *
And……Professor John White, who advises ministers on changes to the curriculum, has given it as his opinion that traditional subjects are “middle class”. Instead of subjects, children should be taught skills, such as energy saving, civic responsibility and valuing personal relationships. Subject-based teaching should be replaced by teaching based on themes or projects. As the Campaign for Real Education says, “If this is the future, exams will measure politically-correct values instead of knowledge. If you aren’t frightened, perhaps you should be?”
+ + + +
It has been estimated that at least 18 British universities are now setting their own admission tests because they can no longer rely on A-levels.
* * * *
The Institute of Directors has highlighted “a wide disparity between official statistics on education performance and the perception of employers.”The Sutton Trust has been carrying out research into whether bright pupils from comprehensive schools are missing out on degree places. They found that 60,000 such pupils had missed out, but not because of bias against them by top universities, simply because they are let down by poor education.
* * * *
Another fiasco delivered by Balls
Commenting on the delays children are experiencing in getting their Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs), Shadow Children’s Secretary, Michael Gove said:
“Just weeks after thousands of children did not receive their exam results on time, Ed Balls’s department has delivered another fiasco. The Government seems unable to administer relatively straightforward tasks and thousands of teenagers now face uncertainty about whether they will get their allowances for staying on at school.”
* * * * *
Our new Saturday Venue
We have held our first Saturday meeting at CCHQ at 30 Millbank. We were made very welcome, and it all worked very well. We even found a very friendly nearby sandwich shop willing to provide our buffet lunch for us.
Many thanks to CCHQ for allowing us use of the room.
+ + + +
Subscriptions
The AGM decided that subscriptions could remain at £15. They are now due. Please send your cheque for £15, payable to CNES, to the Treasurer, Chris Everest, at 7 West Farm Avenue, Ashtead, Surrey, KT 21 2LD. Standing Order forms are available on request.
* * * *
New Green Paper on Skills
David Cameron and David Willetts have launched ‘Building Skills, Transforming Lives’, a Green Paper setting out plans for a training and apprenticeship revolution. 
The system of training in the UK is stuck in the past – and as a result, over three-quarters of a million young people are not in any kind of education, employment, or training.
Our Green Paper sets out proposals for a revolution in skills and training, including:
- A massive expansion in the provision of real apprenticeships, with £775 million set aside to support apprentices of all ages
- More community learning, with a £100 million NEETs fund to help young people not in education, employment or training
- An end to the bureaucracy that shackles further education colleges
- More funding for careers advice services
This Green Paper is published as part of our Opportunity Agenda – and David Cameron promised, “If you have got something to offer, then we will help you to shine.”
+ + + + + + + +
The AGM
The Annual General Meeting was held in May, with our President, Sir Robert Balchin, presiding. The Report and Accounts were approved. Bob Balchin and Harry Greenway were re-appointed as President and Deputy President respectively. Peter Halls-Dickerson, Peter Lewis, Andrew Povey and Fraser Mitchell were re-elected as Vice Presidents. Tricia Gurnett, having come to the end of her three years as Chairman, was elected a Vice President. Robert Pettigrew was elected Chairman, with James McMurray as Vice Chairman, Chris Everest as Hon Treasurer, and Helen Hodges as Hon Secretary.
* * * * *
Worrying Regional Differences in A-Level Results
Michael Gove, the Shadow Children’s Secretary, has described the large regional differences in this year’s A-level results as “very worrying”. 
The South East recorded a 50% higher proportion of A-grades at A-level than the North East, and three times the rate of improvement since 2002.
Michael stressed, “The Government is letting down children in the more disadvantaged areas who, as a result, fall behind throughout their time in school.”
And he said the differences in A-level results highlighted the need for more good school places, as set out in our Schools Green Paper, to provide children in less well-off areas with the same opportunities as others.
The Baroness Verma
House of Lords spokesman for the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, The Baroness Verma, spoke at a recent CES evening meeting at the Palace of Westminster. She outlined the work of speaking for the Front Bench Team when legislation was going through the Lords.
______________________________________________________________________
The new Diplomas
The government’s new Diplomas are starting this academic year, although only in some subjects. Others will be added later.
CES intends to study the topic in detail at a meeting soon, but now we are anxious to have examples of what is happening in your area. Have your schools/colleges started offering Diplomas? Do you have information as to the views of parents? Are pupils taking up Diploma courses, and how are things going? Are any pupils being dissuaded from taking traditional academic GCSE/A-levels, and being pushed towards Diplomas instead? We would like to know and so would our Front Bench Team.
Meanwhile, if you want to know how Diplomas will operate, you can find details on the DCSF website, including a report of six or so experimental “lines of learning”. These include Hospitality, Hair and Beauty Studies, Environment and Land-Based Studies.
On Hair and Beauty Studies, the report says “the qualification will give young people a taste of this hard-working, fashion-conscious industry and open doors to an exciting world…..Top practitioners can command large salaries and rub shoulders with celebrities, TV and film producers, magazine editors and fashion designers.” Sadly, not all will do this. Quite a few will be stuck in a shabby salon in an inner city back street doing shampoos and sets for pensioners.
x x x x x x x x x x x
The CES Forum
Do you often think that nobody takes any notice of your views? Well now’s your chance! Contact the CES Forum. CES is charged with ensuring the Parliamentary Team receives members’ opinions and factual information. If you feel strongly about anything, or you have information which would be of use to the Shadow Education Team, all you have to do is contact us by e-mail, telephone or post:- 23 Ward Avenue, Grays, Essex, RM17 5RE. Tel: 01375 374786 E-mail: cnes_tg@btinternet.com
—————————————–
Correspondence to the Editor and submitted articles are invited for publication. These can be sent to CES at 23 Ward Avenue, Grays, Essex, RM17 5RE or by e-mail to cnes_tg@btinternet.com
++++
This publication is produced for the benefit of members of the Society. The views expressed therein are those of the respective contributors, and are intended to inform constructive debate. Except where expressly stated, they should not be taken to represent either the collective view of the Society or the policy of the Conservative Party.
The official Education Special Interest Group of the Conservative Party
