News
Key education reforms lost as Bill pushed through Parliament
7 Apr 2010
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls has been forced to drop key reforms from the Children, Schools and Families Bill currently going through the House of Commons. The changes have been made in order to ensure the Bill passes before Parliament is dissolved for the election.
The dropped reforms include one-to-one tuition, a home education register and the new school report cards proposed in last year’s schools White Paper.
Reforms of the primary school curriculum, allowing schools greater flexibility to tailor teaching to their children, have also been shelved, as have catch-up lessons and small group support for pupils needing extra support.
Mr Balls expressed his “deep regret” at the decision and promised that if Labour won the election he would ensure the measures made it on to the statute book in the first session of the new Parliament.
A Conservative Party spokesman said "This Bill would have meant a great new wave of bureaucracy swamping schools and it is good news that it has collapsed - teachers will breathe a sigh of relief. "
Read the full story on the BBC website
Read which reforms remain in the Bill at the Guardian website
