Literacy news
Conservative Party launch election manifesto
13 Apr 2010
The Conservative Party have launched their election manifesto inviting the electorate to “join the Government of Britain”. The manifesto was launched with speeches from a number of leading Conservatives, including leader David Cameron.
The manifesto pledges to “improve [education] standards for all pupils and close the attainment gap between the richest and poorest” through a range of policies including raising the entry requirement for teacher training and allowing all state schools the freedom to offer international exams currently only offered by some private schools.
Regarding literacy the manifesto makes a pledge to promote the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics and ensure that teachers are properly trained to teach using this method. This would be accompanied by a reading test at age six to check that children are making progress.
At the launch of the manifesto Michael Gove, Shadow Secretary for Children, Schools and Families, said that if elected the Conservatives would lead the “the most radical agenda of school reform in a generation" giving children the chance to become "authors of their own life story".
However the Labour party claimed that Conservative cuts would lead to 38,000 job losses in education, while Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat party, described the manifesto as “style over substance”.
Read the Conservative manifesto at the party’s official website
Read responses to the manifesto from other parties at e-politix
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