Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has pledged to give every child a fair start in life by investing an extra £2.5bn in schools which could be used to cut class sizes, offer one-on-one tuition and provide catch-up classes.
In a speech to Barnardo’s, Nick Clegg set out the Liberal Democrat manifesto pledge to introduce a Pupil Premium which would raise the poorest children’s school funding to private school levels.
He said: “One of the biggest challenges we face as a country is breaking this link between financial deprivation at home and educational under-achievement in the classroom. Despite all the money that has been spent by Labour, schools taking disadvantaged children aren’t getting the money they need to break this link by cutting class sizes and providing them with extra support. As we work our way out of this recession and rebuild a country which is fairer, we must ensure our school system gives every child a chance to fulfil their potential irrespective of their background and where they live.”
To give every child a fair start the cash would be used to cut class sizes with an average primary school class size cut to 20. An average secondary school could see classes of just 16.
Why is this necessary? Performance at school is closely linked to children’s background. The poorest children are only half as likely to get five good GCSEs as other children. Too often, the poorest children start school already struggling and fall further behind as they grow older.
The Pupil Premium would be available to the school which each disadvantaged pupil attended. It would be attached to those children entitled to Free School Meals – the million poorest children. The Pupil Premium would be set nationally and it would top up a national per-pupil base funding figure. It will raise the poorest children’s school funding to private school levels, with the average school receiving around £2500 extra for every child entitled to free school meals on their roll.
This policy would cost £2.5bn a year, and will be introduced in the second year of the Parliament after our jobs stimulus package, paid for from savings in Government such as our proposed reforms to tax credits (which will save £1.5bn) and administrative savings in the Department for Education and quangos (which save an additional £1bn).