NADHIM Zahawi has announced a new education strategy in a white paper released this week.

The schools’ white paper has a heavy emphasis on improving Maths and English and expects 90 per cent, up from 65 per cent, of primary school children to achieve the “expected standard” in reading, writing, and maths by 2030.

In addition, the government aims to increase the national GCSE average grade in these subjects. Zahawi wants to progress from grade 4.5, which was achieved in 2019, to 5 by 2030.

The schools’ white paper also announced the government's ambition to ensure that all English schools provide a minimum school week of 32.5 hours and that all schools are part of an academy trust by 2030.

Ofsted will visit every school in the next two and a half years, and the government is also providing an extra £100 million to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).

The EEF is a charity established in 2011 that aims to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools.

EEF helps support teachers and senior leaders by providing evidence-based resources to improve learning.

The long-anticipated schools white paper, the first in 6 years, did not escape criticism. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), claimed that the new schools white paper were a “damp squib”.

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson was highly critical of Zahawi’s plan calling the new strategy “smoke and mirrors”.

She said that the new plan was an admission of the Conservative regime’s education failure, adding, “Today’s ‘pledge’ acknowledges that 12 years of Conservative governments have failed to get the basics right”.

The criticism stems from the white paper objectives widely labelled as challenging by education leaders, specifically against the backdrop of recent funding squeezes due to austerity measures, pandemic learning loss, and continuing disruption from covid outbreaks.

However, some constituencies have benefitted immediately from the new plans from Zahawi.

West Somerset, part of the new Education Investment Areas (EIA), is favoured for new six-form schools.

It is set to receive additional funding beyond that provided by the EIAs, qualifying for a share of a £42m fund over the next three years.

The MP for West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger, who has campaigned heavily for improved education provisions, has said that he is delighted that West Somerset's repeated requests for additional educational support are being listened to.

Written by Ollie Whiting