Our friends at the Liberal Democrat Education Association have released a briefing for PPCs on education policy, including key messages, criticisms of the Labour and Tory approaches, and case studies showing the real difference that Liberal Democrat eduction policies are already making to the lives of millions of children.
The summary, and sections on current policy and the 2015 manifesto are below. ALDC members can download the entire document from our File Library.
If you’d like to find out more about the range of information, services, and support that ALDC provides for councillors, candidates, and local campaigners, click here.
LDEA Briefing
The Liberal Democrats are the party of education. From “a penny on income tax for education”, to the Pupil Premium and extending early education provision, the Liberal Democrats have led the way in radical, transformational policies to give every child a fair start in life.
This briefing aims to give every Prospective Parliamentary Candidate and every Liberal Democrat campaigner the information they need to campaign confidently on the Liberal Democrats’ record in government, their commitments for the next Parliament, and points to make about other parties’ policies.
The final page of the briefing contains a number of stories and quotes from around the country about the difference that Liberal Democrat policies in government are making to children and families.
Our Record in Government
- Protected the schools budget per pupil and prevented “for profit” schools
- Introduced a pupil premium for every child eligible for free school meals between 5 and 16 of £1,300 for primary-aged pupils and £935 for secondary-aged pupils. From April 2015 there will also be an early years premium of £300 for 3 and 4 year olds in nursery education or childcare.
- Introduced free early years education for the 40% most disadvantaged two year-olds
- Introduced free school meals for all infant pupils
- Reformed school league tables to ensure teachers help every pupil (not just between C&D)
- Nearly 2 million new apprenticeships and supported high quality vocational education
- No undergraduate student in England has to pay a penny up front of their tuition fees; students do not have to pay anything back until they are earning over £21,000 per year. We now have the highest university application rates ever, including from disadvantaged students.
Our Manifesto for 2015 – 2020
- Protect Education Spending: protect the whole education budget from early years to age 19 in real terms (ie taking account of inflation)
- Quality Guarantee: All teachers in state-funded schools will be qualified or working towards
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). A slimmed-down core curriculum will be taught in all state-funded schools, including recognition of the role of the arts in a rounded education
- High quality early years education: by 2020 every childcare setting should have at least one QTS Early Years teacher as this makes the most difference to disadvantaged pupils
- Pupil Premium for disadvantaged children: At least protect the schools pupil premium and triple the early years pupil premium to £1000 per pupil per year
- Expand childcare: 15 hours of free childcare per week for all 2 yr-olds, and 15 hours of free childcare for all working parents from the end of paid parental leave to when the child is 2.
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More information is available via the LDEA’s website: ldea.co.uk