*lnvestment:
- £8bn for schools including a £2bn pay uplift for teachers
- £2.5bn a year to tackle RAAC concrete scandal
- £5bn for special needs (SEND)
- £3bn for sixth-form education
- £12bn investment in skills and lifelong learning for further education.
* Abolish Ofsted and replace high-stakes formal SATs testing with system of continuous assessment
* Free daily school meal for all children
* Scrap tuition fees and restore maintenance grants for undergraduates
* Provide students at all state-funded schools and colleges access to a qualified counsellor.
The Green Party has announced a package of measures to improve the learning environment for both students and teachers.
Co-leader Carla Denyer said:
“For Greens, education is a public good that benefits society, so it should be publicly funded and available to everybody, free of charge, at every stage of life.
“Schools play an essential role in ensuring the wellbeing of all students and helping them to thrive.
“To help relieve the stresses in our education system and improve wellbeing, for both teachers and pupils, Greens want to replace high-stakes formal SATs testing in primary and secondary schools with a system of continuous assessment, and abolish OFSTED. We also want to see a massive boost in funding for special needs provision in mainstream schools, and for a qualified counsellor in every state school and college.
“No child must be left behind by poverty. Opportunities must be available to all. Alongside scrapping the two-child benefit cap and uplifting Universal Credit by £40 a week, Green MPs will push for all children to be provided with a healthy school meal every day – free of charge.
“Greens also believe that a more holistic education, where arts and vocational subjects are treated equally within the curriculum, will help more students thrive. We also want children to learn about the climate and nature crises to equip them for the challenges ahead and so they can be part of the solution.
“Post-16 education and training opportunities must be better designed to support lifelong learning. Greens will seek to restore the Education Maintenance Allowance to financially support young people to extend their studies.
“Marketisation has been disastrous for Higher Education, pushing universities into financial crisis and burdening a whole generation of students with debts. So elected Green MPs will push to end tuition fees and restore maintenance grants.
Co-leader Carla Denyer concluded:
“We don’t pretend there’s a magic money tree lurking in the playground. We are being honest. Generating the billions needed to invest in our education system – including giving hard working teachers a much-needed pay uplift – requires reforming our tax system to make it fairer and greener.
“Our A* offering is fully inclusive and costed. We know it gets top marks. Green MPs will push a Labour government to take some lessons from our manifesto and offer better funded support for both students and teachers.”
ENDS
Notes
For full Green Party manifesto see: https://greenparty.org.uk/about/our-manifesto/2024-manifesto-downloads/