Policy Analysis: Hinds continues the 'legacy' of the 1988 Education Reform Act
Introduction
Educational policy and practices are effective in such an era of globalisation where the teachers and other educational staff can develop effective strategic planning for making the educational system more effective so that it provides an opportunity to teach the students efficiently for their personal and professionals development (Verger, Altinyelken, and Novelli, 2018). The aim of the study is to analyse the Hinds speech 'legacy' of the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) through which it is possible to critically evaluate the impacts and advantages of the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) in the society ideologically. Through this paper, it is also easy to demonstrate the understanding of Hinds speech that underpinned the ideology of the 'legacy' of the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation). The 'legacy' of the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) is important in the recent years for making the educational system fair and it provides a scoop to the family members of the children to choose the best educational system or schools for the children which affects the educational system, skills and knowledge.
Educational policy analysis
Policy in terms of education is a strategic decision taken by the corresponding Government body of the countries which helps to operate the educational system efficiently and provides a scope to the teachers and staff members in the educational field to develop the schools and colleges for the benefits of the children. The policy discourse is effective to implement the policy in the institutions and explore effective rules and legislations as well as strategic planning for running the educational system proficiently (Simmons, 2016). The cycle of policy implementation in the educational institutions are also beneficial for running the operational activities successfully and improve the quality of education by resolving the existing issues and internal problems. Through the policy implementation, the public as well as private schools and colleges also aim at improving the quality of education and manage the students efficiently so that they can gather actual knowledge and improve their skills for achieving higher in near future. Hereby, social development and economic prosperous can be possible through policy implementation and settlement. The government body in this regard plays a crucial role in managing the educational system by developing effective rules and act which provides proper guidelines for developing the educational system by ensuring quality enhancement (Slee, 2018).
The 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) is mainly for the marketisation of education where it is an attempt to improve the quality standard of education by making the schools and colleges compete for the students. In this recent globalised economy, the economic stability and social development push the educational system in an advanced stage in the capitalised economy influencing marketisation of education where the parents can choose the schools and colleges for their children to give them better education for their personal and professional development. The 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) was passed by the New Right (Conservative) Government where the main purpose of the act is to centralise the educational provision in the UK and bring a standardisation of educational provision offered throughout the country by ensuring marketisation of education (Hess, and Henig, 2015). The policy brings a series of changes which includes marketisation of schools, increasing competition in the educational field, introducing league table and maintaining national curriculum that further helps to enhance the quality of education in the society creating winners in the society (Taylor, 2018). There are some disadvantages of marketisation process where some of remote areas are excluded where the state focuses to expand the schooling system for which there are many young people who cannot access education and apart from that, lack of vocational and practiced based education may deteriorate the quality of education as in the recent years, the young people prefer practical based education for getting better jobs in future. As per Hinds speech, “we need to move forwards with our reforms. We need to ensure that the vocational and the technical, are absolutely on a par with the academic. We need to make sure that we extend our reforms in all regions, in all parts of the country. That all parts of our society have equal opportunity, that everywhere we see raised expectations and raised aspirations, and when that happens, then we will be able to say, this is a world class education for everyone” that refers to develop the vocational and technical education that would be advantageous for the young people to raise their aspirations and expectations in near future.
The marketisation of educational system is also helpful where the consumers have their choice for applied education and the parents can choose the right schools or colleges to send their children as per their needs and preferences as well as income level. The private schools and colleges can enhance the profitability as well as the state schools also can promote their educational system through marketisation where the parents admitted their children in different schools as per their convenient (M.J. Kaufman, and S.R., Kaufman, 2017). The more students the schools and colleges get, the more profit they can earn as well as they can receive funds from the government body of the country also which will be beneficial for the schools for their infrastructural development as well as profit maximisation. As per the Hinds speech, “We also need to make sure that all our young people leave our education system with the basic essential skills that they’re going to need with them in life whatever path they end up taking, whatever job they end up doing. Central to that is English and Maths. We have made a lot of progress on English and Maths. But we need to go further. Today, I’m announcing 32 primary schools and 21 colleges which will act as centres of excellence to spread best practice respectively for early literacy teaching and the teaching of Maths aged 16 and above’. marketisation of the education includes proper understanding of the child’s needs and the requirements of the young people and recently, the young people prefer the courses that will help them in getting better jobs and in this regard, it is necessary to expand the schools and improve teaching technique of Maths and English which will help them in future to get a better job. Marketisation in education in this regard refers to the educational provision being determined by the market where the principle of freedom of choice can be maximised was the parents have their choice to admit their children in different schools as per their choices and preferences. The standard of teaching can be maintained well through this the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) policy where the schools must compete for better student and establish the school in the market. The marketisation of the education makes the schools like business in competition in the market for getting competitive advantage so that the educational system of the schools can attract more parents in the market. Parentrocacy is another effect of such 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) policy where the parents were treated as consumers in the market where the parents can choose the right schools for their children as per their needs and preferences (Bowe, Ball and Gold, 2017). Hereby, marketisation makes the educational system like competitive firms where funding maximisation is the main aim of the schools.
There are several advantages of the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) such as the schools can attract the parents through advertisement of facilities and the high achievements that can be possible for their children through enrolment in the schools. Attracting parents is hereby important to getting enrolment of the child in the school and raise funding for further marketisation of the schools in the society. In addition to this, the parental choice and preferences can be valued through the marketisation of education where the parents can choose the schooling of their children according to their requirements (Fulcher, 2015). The funding formula for the schooling is another advantage for the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) in which the funding depends on the numbers of pupils getting admitted in the school from where the schools can maximise their profitability. the popular schools get the chance to attract the parents in the society for enrolling their children in the schools so that they can better education for their future. Incentive and admission fees are helpful for the private school and the government funding is also effective for the state-owned school to improve their profitability and funding and apart from that, middle class parent can have the advantage for offering charitable donations which is also effective for the schools to improve the quality of education. The reform is advantageous for the society for enhancing skill and knowledge among the children through improving the quality standard for education provided to the children (F., Armstrong, D. Armstrong, and Barton, 2016). As per the Hind speech, ‘We’ve got 1.9 million more young people studying in good or outstanding schools. And the gap has been narrowed. The gap between the rich and the poor in attainment has narrowed at every stage and every phase from nursery school to university entry’. The gaps between the poor and rich can be narrowed through such reform in the educational system. The educational system after such reform through the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) can improve satisfaction of the parents in the society where the opportunities provided to the parents are equal which enhances equality in the educational system in which the parents can choose better education for their children. investment for the future of the country as well as maintaining the quality standard in education are effective for improving social development and dynamic economic condition (Allen-Kinross, 2018). As per the speech by Hinds, “People talk about Miss Smith, Mr Jones, Mrs O’Neil. Because education is all about that person standing at the front of the class. Those inspiring individuals, those 450,000 teachers that we have out there, they deserve, and they have our admiration, our respect and our thanks’. Economic growth and social development are the main advantages of such educational refer through implementing and executing the 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation). The government also encourages such marketisation of education where the parents, teaching staff and the students are engaged with each other by ensuring high competition and enhancing communication that further influence the schools to improve the quality standard of the educational system through which they can maximise their funding as well as enhance social development. Teamwork and commitment of the school further improve the educational system and apart from that, the interschool events further raise competitive among the schools. Through the educational reform, it is also possible to enhance technological upgradation in the school level where the computers, play and learn program for the kids are effective where the children can learn through different moving objects, computers and other technology that enhances the skill and abilities to learn of the children (Allen-Kinross, 2018).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the educational reform is effective for the educational system as a whole where there is more concentration in improving quality of education, high enrolment, attracting the parents through developing effective educational strategies, higher funding, improving capabilities of the school are effective for social sustainable development and dynamic economy. The 1988 Education Reform Act (marketisation) is effective to enhance the educational policies and let the parents choose the best schooling for their children and it further helps to narrow down the gap and inequality among the poor and rich in the society.