Education leaders in the North East say new government reforms to the school curriculum are a “missed opportunity” to tackle regional inequality. The Department for Education has announced a series of major changes that North East leaders struggle to envision without the correct funding.
00:00The Department of Education has announced a major shake-up following a review led by Professor Becky Francis.
00:06Among the headline changes include Year 8 pupils will now have to sit compulsory reading tests,
00:12citizenship lessons will become mandatory in primary schools and the number of GCSE exams will be cut at least by 10%.
00:20The review also recommends scrapping the EBAC, a key performance measure for schools since 2010.
00:26While Schools North East, which represents more than 1,150 schools in the region,
00:32welcomed some of the proposals, including efforts to ease teacher workload and rethink Key Stage 3.
00:38It's still warned that the reforms fail to address the bigger picture.
00:42Director Chris Zerriga said without tackling funding shortages and the specific challenges faced by schools in disadvantaged areas,
00:50the changes may fail short of delivering the world-class, broad and balanced curriculum pupils deserve.
00:55The North East continues to lag behind other regions, in exam results with just 17.8% of GCSE students achieving a Grade 7 or above this year.
01:06While it's still an improvement by the region alone, the gap between London figures in comparison is widening.
01:12Schools North East also raised concerns that introducing a new curriculum could worsen already high workload pressures and deepen the region's digital divide.
01:21Many schools, they said, lack the infrastructure, staff training and investment needed to deliver new online learning tools.
01:28Education Secretary and Sunderland MP Bridget Philipson said the reforms would ensure young people are equipped to face the challenges of today.
01:37But for many schools in the North East, that may still depend on whether the resources needed to make these reforms work will actually follow.
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