Women, after all, form a very high proportion of our teaching force. There is only one figure which is needed to establish that point, the increase in the earnings of women. They are being overtaken by manual and white-collar workers. What has happened over the past decade-this is not a party point since it has been going on under the last two Governments-has meant that teachers are in danger of becoming a depressed profession. One will achieve that only if teachers are paid reasonable salaries. If we want higher standards in schools, the first thing we need is a higher standard of teachers. The Opposition charge against the Government today is that instead of concentrating on the solution of these practical problems they are diverting the energy and the attention of all who are concerned with education, and driving us back into the sterile battle between grammar and comprehensive schools, by seeking to impose a system of universal comprehensive schools which can only exacerbate these problems instead of ameliorating them. Every Member of this House knows from his correspondence that parents are worried about two things in particular-the maintenance of discipline in the schools and the standards of learning which are achieved, particularly in the case of literacy and mathematics in our primary schools. If the educational system is to prosper it must have the sure support of public opinion. ![]() That is not to say that our education system is bad or collapsing, nor is it denying that the majority of our schools are good and are served by dedicated men and women.īut we cannot ignore the views of parents. That is recognised in the opening words of the Opposition motion. This debate takes place in a setting where parents all over the country are increasingly anxious about what is going on in certain of our schools. It is our right and duty to proclaim them here this afternoon. We on the Opposition benches have equally clear though different views. The Secretary of State for Education and Science has spoken out in a forthright manner on a number of occasions. The Government have their own educational philosophy. But to speak responsibly is not to be mealy mouthed. We must all think of the effects which anything we say could have on those who are struggling with grave problems in our schools.Īll of us, however different the means we may propose, want to make things better in the educational system rather than worse. Anybody who speaks on this subject, whether from the Front Benches or the back benches, bears a heavy responsibility to measure his words carefully. ![]() One thing we are all agreed about in every part of the House is the importance of education for the future of the nation. That this House, in view of the widespread disquiet amongst parents about the standards of conduct and learning in certain schools, calls upon Her Majesty's Government to modify its educational policies so as to preserve the rights of parents guaranteed by Section 76 of the Education Act 1944, and to raise academic standards in schools and, in particular, to withdraw Circular 474 which seeks to impose a system of universal comprehensive schools without regard to educational considerations, parental wishes or local needs and conditions.
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