THE British government has decided to abandon primary school literacy strategies, which is shown in the 21st Century Schools white paper. From 2011, primary schools will no longer be forced to hold a daily literacy hour. The move has been welcomed by teachers unions, according to Times Online.
The national strategies were introduced in 1998, beginning with a daily literacy hour in primary schools, and included centralized directives on how reading and writing should be taught. The strategies are now being abandoned because the schools secretary, Ed Balls, wants to give schools more control over how they teach. The move will end the centralized prescription of literacy and numeracy hours in primary schools and save the government up to ￡100 million ($161 million) a year currently spent on private consultants.
David Laws, the Liberal Democrats’ schools spokesman, said the strategies were ineffective and should have been scrapped long ago. Christine Blower, general secretary of the UK National Union of Teachers, welcomed the move, saying the money freed up by ending the national strategies can be spent on other more worthwhile aspects of the education budget. Chris Keates, general secretary of the teaching union NASUWT, said her members had never supported the national strategies and there would be no tears shed in schools over their demise.
Balls emphasized that he was not abandoning literacy teaching in primary classes. “I will make sure that the money is ring-fenced so that schools will continue to spend the money on English learning,” he said. He also hopes to mobilize 100,000 private tutors, including current, former and retired teachers, who will be paid ￡25 ($40) an hour to provide extra lessons to 600,000 pupils who are struggling with English and math.
Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, said: “If Ed Balls is going to scrap the national strategies in their current form, we will support him. They cost a fortune and do not drive up standards. We want to give teachers more responsibility.”
