Schools plan is an electoral hot topic for parties

Apr 18 2008 by Moira Sharkey, South Wales Echo

THE biggest question facing politicians on the campaign trail in Cardiff is, if elected, will they support the controversial school reorganisation plan?

Communities across the city are anxiously waiting to find out whether their local school with be amalgamated, closed, expanded or improved. The final decisions will be taken in the months after the election.

Some communities are united in their opposition to proposals. Thousands of residents in Llanrumney and Rumney have supported a campaign to stop a new secondary school and leisure complex being built on the Eastern Leisure Centre site.

Other communities such as Canton are divided, with hundreds of parents opposing the closure of Lansdowne while others desperate for a new school to overcome the problem of overcrowding at the Welsh school Treganna.

Teachers begged the politicians not to turn this issue into a political football.

But in this, an election year, unsurprisingly, their plea has fallen on deaf ears. With election fever in full swing the blame game has begun in party newsletters.

The reality is this is not a Liberal Democrat plan. The school reorganisation plan has been discussed and agreed by all the main parties during the schools sub-committee meetings. This committee included all group leaders as well as observers from unions and the teaching profession. It was set up in the wake of the Lib Dem’s failed school reorganisation plan, that proposed the closure of up to 22 schools.

Its aim was to reach consensus on the issue of surplus places in some schools and overcrowding in others. The council wastes £3m of taxpayers’ money on empty places. Under orders from the National Assembly and education inspectorate Estyn the council had to tackle the problem.

The Liberal Democrats have been praised for grasping the nettle. All parties, apart from the independents, who were not invited onto the sub committee, have recommended all the proposals in the plan.

More difficult decisions lie ahead. Agreement was not reached on plans for schools like Cantonian and Radyr High which is why they have not progressed.

Individual councillors must represent their electorate. However voters must be clear, individual councillors will not now have a say on the proposals already on the table, no matter what pledges are made on the doorstep.

The ruling group in the form of the council’s executive will decide on whether the plan is approved or rejected, rather than the full council.

In response to the public backlash, the Labour and Conservative groups have pledged to review the reorganisation if they take control.

But it took two years to review the first plan and get to this stage. Headteachers say they cannot wait any longer as schools with record demand are already at crisis point.

No matter what is promised and no matter how many reviews, the reality is no school reorganisation plan on this scale will ever please everybody.

Lib Dem

n Continue to prioritise funding for schools and investment in school buildings and work with all parties to achieve a schools system which reflects the demand for places;

n prioritise the youth service by increasing the provision of youth workers and extending the opening times of youth centres;

n continue to be committed to Welsh-medium education and match provision to demand

n work more closely in partnership with the health authorities to address the needs of young carers;

n invest in special educational needs.

Councillor Bill Kelloway said: “Our manifesto commitments give priority to education as we have done over the last four years. We want to be given the opportunity to sort out outstanding issues in education, lifelong learning and the youth service.”

n Continue to prioritise funding for schools and investment in school buildings and work with all parties to achieve a schools system which reflects the demand for places;

n prioritise the youth service by increasing the provision of youth workers and extending the opening times of youth centres;

n continue to be committed to Welsh-medium education and match provision to demand

n work more closely in partnership with the health authorities to address the needs of young carers;

n invest in special educational needs.

Councillor Bill Kelloway said: “Our manifesto commitments give priority to education as we have done over the last four years. We want to be given the opportunity to sort out outstanding issues in education, lifelong learning and the youth service.”

Labour

n Labour believes every school in Cardiff will be a great school;

n introduce a pilot scheme of mentoring to provide additional support to help raise the educational achievement of less advantaged children;

n give more children, on the borders of academic success, the opportunity of participating in the planned House of Sport.

n set up an Excellence in Education Commission;

n conduct an urgent review of the current school reorganisation proposals with a particular focus on the threat to build a school on the site of Eastern Leisure Centre and the primary school proposals for the west of the city.

Labour leader Councillor John Sheppard: “We are proposing a radical series of measures to begin the process of driving up educational achievements in our schools and raising expectations among both teachers and pupils.”

 

Plaid Cymru

n School buildings should be developed as community assets instead of remaining empty after school hours;

n schools need to change to meet new challenges typical of the 21st century and to be able to deliver the curriculum which best serves the future citizens of Wales;

n the local authority should carry out a survey among parents of pre-school aged children to determine the demand for Welsh-medium education;

n investment is needed in peripatetic teachers to pilot the teaching of languages such as Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic;

n schools’ land should not be identified as suitable for speculative development.

Group leader Councillor Delme Bowen said: “Plaid has contributed to the plans to reorganise Cardiff’s schools, opposing the polarisation of parents and called for a plan that could satisfy demand for both English and Welsh medium education, at a reasonable distance from home.

Independents

n Ensure parents can send their pupils to a school in their locality.

n ensure that there is adequate Welsh-medium provision across the city;

n create adequate special needs provision;

n ensure any future schools plan is shared with all groups on the council in advance of its publication to allow a full and frank discussion on the best way forward.

Councillor Jayne Cowan, leader of the Independent group said: “There continues to be uncertainty about the future of our schools. It is essential that any future plans are made available to all groups for a full and frank discussion before they are released to schools and the public”.

Conservative

n Work alongside schools to expand vocational and on-the-job training with mainstream education in Cardiff;

n ensure full consultation on school closures and mergers with parents, teachers and pupils and review the schools reorganisation plan;

n trust our teachers to know what is best for their schools, giving them greater control of their budgets;

n seek to provide Welsh-medium education to meet demand;

n encourage the city’s most successful schools to share their knowledge of what works best with all Cardiff schools.

Councillor David Walker, Conservative group leader, said: “We believe that we have a responsibility to the next generation to get the schools reorganisation in Cardiff right.

“We want to take people with us on the plan to provide world class education for every student in Cardiff.”

 

moira.sharkey@mediawales.co.uk