Unions call for Education Bill to be dropped from Queen’s Speech

Unions have come together to call on the government to drop the new Education Bill from the Queen’s speech and instead ‘engage in meaningful discussions with groups representing the education profession’.

The Education Bill, which was initially set to introduce the government’s plans for the every school in England to be converted in an academy, has faced strong opposition from Education professionals, parents and local government, with a large number of Conservative Councillors speaking out against the proposals.

The Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP), Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), National Union of Teachers (NUT) and Unison, which represents school support staff, have joined together to urge to government to drop the Education Bill from the Queen’s Speech at the opening of Parliament.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has backed down the proposals to force every school to convert into an academy, meaning only those deemed as failing or coasting will be forced to convert, as well as those in local authority areas no longer deemed to be ‘viable’.

The unions have welcomed these changes, but still argue that the academisation of schools will be costly and not address the real issues. Instead, they suggest that the government should focus on ‘the pressing issues in education’, including funding issues, teacher shortages and assessments.