Still room for improvement

The five words synonymous with the concluding remarks of many school reports – “Good but could do better” – are equally applicable to the GCSE results accrued by pupils this summer.

First the good news. Results improved at all 13 LEAs across Yorkshire. It also saw the headline pass-rate nudge past 50 per cent in Hull, Barnsley and Bradford, three areas where academic under-performance has been a longstanding issue. The progress made by pupils, parents and teachers needs to be acknowledged.

Now the caveat – the “could do better”. Even though a quarter of a million fewer children are being taught in failing secondary schools compared to three years ago, there are still an unacceptably high number of teenagers locally whose marks are significantly below the national average.

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Once again, Yorkshire is likely to emerge as one of the poorest-performing regions once the final grades have been counted.

There is a depressing familiarity to this and Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, will insist that it is a vindication of his wider strategy to re-introduce rigour to the curriculum after the exam system was dumbed down by New Labour.

Yet, while his approach has been welcomed, Mr Gove does need to be realistic with his expectations – it takes time to revive a school’s reputation.

It has taken Sheffield Park Academy four years to emerge from the ignominy of “special measures” to become one of the most improved schools in Yorkshire. And take Dewsbury’s Thornhill Community Academy which was so deservedly honoured at the prestigious National Television Awards following Channel Four’s Educating Yorkshire series.

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Even though the number 
of pupils gaining five or more GCSEs at Grade C or better has dipped from 63 to 54 per cent, this is still significantly better than five years ago when only three out of every 10 youngsters were reaching the basic benchmark.

The lessons from these results? Most teachers are still very dedicated and passionate about their vocation despite it “getting bashed left, right and centre” – the assertion made by Thornhill head Jonny Mitchell at the ceremony. Teachers and politicians need a more constructive dialogue. More focus needs be placed on the quality of primary education – pupils do need to learn key skills at an early age if they’re to succeed at secondary level. And the concerted attempt to drive up standards should still be regarded as “work in progress”.

A quiet revolution

THE quietly-spoken Iain Duncan Smith polarises political opinion. The Work and Pensions Secretary is either regarded as the saviour of the welfare system because of his determination to end the mindset illustrated by TV’s Benefits Street – or a hate figure because he dared to challenge the status quo and the last Labour government’s “blank cheque” approach.

Yet Mr Duncan Smith is, in fact, the last of a dying breed of conviction politicians who are prepared to put their principles first. Left bruised and battered by his shortlived spell as party leader when the Tories were at their most mutinous, he then made it his political mission to understand the culture of welfare dependency and construct policies that reward aspiration.

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The result of his approach, one which revolves around working-age claimants being weaned off benefits as they make the transition to employment and training incentives being given to the jobless, is a record fall in unemployment and a gradual realisation that the welfare system should exist to help the most vulnerable.

It has not been easy – some computer blunders at the DWP have left the taxpayer out of pocket – but Mr Duncan Smith is showing the value of appointing Ministers to roles where their expertise can be utilised.

As he said yesterday: “I have long believed there is no kindness in a benefits system that traps people, leaving them in a twilight world where life is dependent on what is given to you, rather than what you are able to create.”

Derived from conviction, this sentiment is serving the country well – and will continue to do so if the Minister can complete his welfare revolution.

Pensions equality

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IT was an uphill struggle for women to win the right to equal pay – Birmingham Council is among those now having to make compensation payments worth £1bn. However the equalities struggle still remains unresolved when it comes to pensions. Women are still losing out to their male counterparts because current arrangements do not adequately reflect changes in circumstance if they choose to take a career break to start a family.

It is hardly surprising that three-quarters of women are unaware about the size of the pension that they can expect in retirement – the issue is so complex that many are put off from asking the relevant questions.

Even though the Government’s single-tier pension will bring about some clarity and focus, Ministers are still failing to convince people that they need to start saving for their retirement now.

The longer they struggle to get this message across, the greater the difficulties for the Exchequer when a generation reaches pensionable age without having made adequate financial provision for their latter years.