British Education at the Crossroads: Social Justice or Excellence?

Overview & Synopsis

The educational policy of the British Labor Party stresses the provision of quality education regardless of social class background. In a time of downward economic spiral, the Labor Party is committed to education for social justice through the redistribution of resources and research priorities, as well as the reorganization of the educational system. Budget decisions have redistributed funds from elite British universities to the comprehensive secondary schools and vocational colleges. Postsecondary reorganization involves efforts to merge the patch quilt of polytechnical schools, colleges of education, and colleges of further education under a single local authority. At the secondary level, comprehensive schools and semiprivate, direct grant schools are being merged to provide a strong alternative to expensive and exclusive private schools. Research and development funds are being shifted from open-ended cultural and scientific support to programmatic research designed to rescue a beleagured political economy. More money is being infused into trade union projects, workers' economic cooperatives, adult education programs, and vocational training. The belief is that worker incentives are critical to economic productivity and recovery. (Author/DE)