Teachers would get paid time off for research or training every five years under plans being pushed by Keir Starmer
- Labour leader is soon expected to announce a blitz of new education policies
Labour will soon announce a blitz of new education policies including an offer for teachers to get more time off for training, it has emerged.
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to unveil his party’s plans for an overhaul of Britain’s education system as he compiles Labour’s manifesto ahead of the general election.
According to the Daily Telegraph, this could see the Labour leader promise teachers a paid sabbatical for every five years of service.
Sir Keir is also said to be looking at reducing the reliance on exams to grade students and revamping the curriculum to ‘provide a modernised syllabus’.
The Labour leader is expected to set out his plans for a shake-up of the school system and ‘breaking down the barriers to opportunity’ in the coming weeks, the newspaper reported.
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to unveil his party’s plans for an overhaul of Britain’s education system as he compiles Labour’s manifesto ahead of the general election
The Labour leader’s proposals could include a promise to teachers of a paid sabbatical for every five years of service
Sir Keir was last year handed a 137-page report by Lord David Blunkett, who was education secretary in Sir Tony Blair’s New Labour government
Sir Keir was last year handed a 137-page report by Lord David Blunkett, who was education secretary in Sir Tony Blair’s New Labour government.
The dossier included proposals for those who teach GCSE students to be offered a sabbatical of up to one academic term for every half a decade spent in the classroom.
Lord Blunkett’s report suggested sabbaticals could be used for ‘other work placements, research opportunities or overseas exchange programmes’.
But he warned this should only be ‘gradually’ introduced once there was ‘sufficient capacity’ in the teaching workforce.
Among a series of recommendations, the Labour peer also advocated the establishment of a National Curriculum Authority – or Agency – to reshape what children are taught and provide a ‘modernised syllabus which is free from party political interference’.
There should also be ‘multimodal assessments so that young people’s progress is no longer measured solely through written exams’, the report said.
In 2018, then Tory education secretary Damian Hinds outlined plans for a £5million pilot scheme to offer long-serving teachers between a term or a year away from the classroom if they could prove it would benefit their teaching.
Labour’s expected blitz of education policies comes as Sir Keir is also poised to announce plans to hike stamp duty for foreign property buyers and restrict the sale of new-builds to overseas investors.
A Tory party spokesman said: ‘Keir Starmer lacks conviction and his track record of changing his mind will not reassure anyone.
‘All they propose are the same old Labour ideas of more spending and more borrowing.
‘Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Government are focused on five immediate priorities.
‘We will halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut NHS waiting lists and stop the boats.’
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