MP fears social and ethnic split in free schools

PLANS to allow parents to open their own schools could lead to greater social and ethnic divides in the region, according to a Yorkshire MP who has broken ranks with the Government.

Ministers have claimed the flagship school reforms will provide parents in the most deprived communities with the chance to access the same sort of education that children in more affluent parts of the country enjoy.

Liberal Democrat Bradford East MP David Ward has warned, however, that the free school policy could have the opposite effect with only the most well-off parents able to take advantage of it.

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He also voiced fears it could lead to increased ethnic segregation and even see groups of BNP-supporting parents seeking to establish their own school.

Mr Ward said he could not vote in support of the Government plans during the reading of the Academies Bill in Parliament this week amid concerns the legislation is being rushed through.

Education Secretary Michael Gove wants to give parents and teachers who are unhappy with the choice of school on offer in their community the chance to establish their own state funded alternative . His plan is based on reforms of the education system in Sweden.

The coalition Government's new legislation also includes plans to allow more state schools to opt out of local council control to become academies.

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Every school rated as outstanding by Ofsted is to be pre-approved by the Government to become independently run and Mr Gove has written to every school in the country inviting them to apply for academy status.

The Bill is being pushed through Parliament before the summer recess begins next week, to be on the statute book in time for the new school term in September. lt was given a second reading by 326 votes to 236, a Government majority of 90, on Tuesday and moves on to its committee stage today.

Mr Ward, a newly-elected back bencher and former cabinet member for education at Bradford Council, abstained from the vote this week and attacked the way the legislation was being handled.

Speaking in the Commons, he said: "This is not an emergency measure. But it is possibly leading to what could be a nasty accident.

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"There is a difference between freedom and a free-for-all. In a free-for-all, invariably the least articulate, the least organised, the least well-represented, the least well-off and the least well-educated tend to lose out."

Mr Ward told the Yorkshire Post that allowing parents to open up their schools would not help community cohesion in cities like Bradford.

"It could lead to extreme groups wanting to set up their own school. Obviously they would not do this in an overt way and it could lead to many more faith schools which would not help cohesion.

"Mr Gove has given us many assurances and I do not doubt his

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intentions. I hope that I am wrong but I fear I will be right.

"I have said I will have to wait and watch what happens but I will be watching like a hawk."

His concerns have been echoed by education professor at Sheffield Hallam University John Coldron who said that encouraging parents to open their own schools could benefit the country's most affluent communities the most as they would be most likely to have the time and resources to act upon it.

He said: "The policy is new and nobody knows what is going to happen, but certainly the evidence from Sweden, where this model has come from, is that it does increase social segregation."

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Prof Coldron also believes that most parents will not be able to play a direct role in the running of the school and the new system will in fact lead to more private companies becoming involved in running state schools.

Yorkshire could be at the forefront of the free school movement with 90 community groups across the region expressing an interesting in running their own state school.

A group of campaigners from Kirklees, the Birkenshaw, Birstall and Gomersal Parents Alliance, is expected to among the first with their plan for a 900-place secondary school in the Spen Valley.