Quote: Andy Gilder "Whoa there Neddy.
You're a fan of using empirical evidence and statistics to back up your point. Got one for that? Because every study I've seen recently has shown absolutely no educational benefit to taking schools out of local authority control and putting them in the hands of the private sector. Indeed, one Academy chain has recently had to give back a number of schools because it was failing both educationally and financially.
The stampede to move all schools to Academy status is nothing but a piece of political gesturing. It has absolutely no evidence to support an uplift in educational standards. It's ideology over everything else.
You don't have to look far today to see the private sector being no better than the public, with the massive balls-up on electoral registers in Barnet. The job of compiling them was outsourced by the council, and the private sector company they used missed a load of people's names off meaning they couldn't vote without their polling card.'"
The case for or against academies is as yet unproven either way because so many have only been academies for a short period of time. What studies have show though is that successful schools are not likely to improve much for obvious reasons but failing schools have shown good improvements.
What is clear though is that we have to do something to improve our education system as last years OECD international comparison report showed. In the UK, the study shows about one in five youngsters leave school without reaching a basic level of education - and the OECD says that reducing this number and improving skills could add trillions of dollars to the UK economy. Out of 76 countries tested the UK came 20th behind countries such as Ireland, Poland and Estonia and way behind Asian countries like Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
We have to make improvements - So giddiup Neddy
