Education policies

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In the past there have been a lot of policies to try and change the educational system for the better. They have introduced the 1944 education act to try and give equal opportunities to pupils within a free system of state education. There was also the tripartite system that consisted of the three different types of secondary schools and the 11-plus exams. There were also other policies and they all tried to do the same thing; improve the education system to make it better for everyone to achieve good qualifications and get a good job in the labour market. They also tried to close the gap between the working class pupils and the upper class pupils.

One policy that had the most significance during its time was the 1944 education act. After the 2nd WW, there was a debate about the kind of society that should follow the war. Education was significant in this debate. It was felt that the talents of people were not being made full use of, particularly working class. Changes were made in the education system to try and fix this. The act aimed to give equal opportunities to pupils to develop abilities to the full within a free system of state education. The act reorganized the structure of the education system in England and Wales into three stages. There was primary schools for 5-11 year-olds, then secondary schools for 11-15 year-olds and lastly further/higher education for anyone over the age of 15. This act was a bit flawed because the 11-plus exams were unreliable. It was clear that a young person’s educational future could not be predicted by an IQ test at 11. However it was a good policy as it was a free state education it gave each and every child a chance in life.

Marxists would say that this act was brought about to benefit the bourgeoisie. Although it gave every pupil a chance to succeed in life, they were always going to benefit the ruling class because every child that does succeed will enter the labour market and eventually work for someone who is upper class, hence benefiting the ruling class. Also, even thought the act did try and bring equality to the educational system, pupils from a middle class or an upper class background will not go into state schools simply because their parents can afford for them to go to public schools with better staff, facilities and overall better qualifications for the child.

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Major changes occurred in the secondary sector. Intelligence testing, 11-plus exams, could identify different types of pupils, with differing aptitudes and ability. Based on this, the 1944 education act introduced a national test for 11-year-olds – the 11-plus test – as a means of allocating children to one of three types of secondary school. The three types of secondary school were grammar schools, technical schools and secondary modern schools. This became known as the tripartite system of secondary education.

Grammar schools were intended for the bright and academic pupils and they accounted for around 20% of the school ...

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