The material conditions of working-class children are critical to their success although, of course, education is more than this. Nevertheless, adequate housing and social protection are key to meeting working class educational aspirations.
We will ensure that no working class child is disadvantaged because of their background or locality and that those that want to get on are actively encouraged at any time in their lives to learn and apply their skills. Education is a key social infrastructure. This means small class sizes, teachers being trusted to teach without administrative nonsense, investment in extra-curricular subjects like the arts and music as well as sports, an atmosphere of equitable encouragement of all according to their abilities, increased safe online learning and zero tolerance towards bullying and abuse.
Two of our flagship policies are focused on children’s key material needs: first, we are committed to the extension of the free public travel arrangements for children from London to the rest of the country extending the current age restrictions from 11 to 16; second, we support the provision of free good quality and nutritious breakfast and lunch meals during term time to all children in school without means testing and the introduction of access to low cost but nutritious meals out of term time in targeted deprived areas.
To the Workers Party of Britain, education is a life-long process. We deplore the way that a Labour Government became complicit in turning it into a global capitalist business churning huge numbers of young people at home and overseas with worsening standards under increasingly stressed academics and creating an indebted intellectual underclass.
We would change the model for education entirely. First, by guaranteeing a right to a free tuition first degree that could be taken at any time during one’s life so as to end the pressure for young people to take on debt before they have an idea what they want to do with their lives. Tuition fees will be a thing of the past and debt for low income graduates increasingly remitted.
We would financially support vocational education, apprenticeships and trades education that met the aspiration of any worker to get employment that could allow them to live a better standard of living in an economy that may require frequent changes in skills. This area is so important to us that we will be providing a separate supplemental Mini-Manifesto on Youth and Education with the same force as this Manifesto in due course.
Julie Lowe 