Education Questions: Secondary Schools (Attainment)
8th March 2010
Michael Gove questions the Secretary of State on the failure of the education system for the very poorest children.
Michael Gove (Surrey Heath) (Con): The Secretary of State will be aware that, in the last year for which we have figures, of the 80,000 children who were eligible for free school meals-the very poorest-only 45 got to Oxford or Cambridge. Why are so many poor children being failed by Labour?
Ed Balls: There has been repeated discussion on these matters. I have attempted to correct the hon. Gentleman on his statistical failings, but he keeps refusing to listen. What he does in his comparisons is to look only at the children on free school meals who go to schools. He repeatedly ignores the performance of young people on free school meals who go to further education colleges. His statistics therefore always give a very unfair and biased picture of what is going on, which I guess must account for why he keeps saying that his school reforms would lead to rising standards, while the head of the Swedish equivalent of Ofsted has said that they would lead to falling standards and greater inequality. I think that he should do his homework a little bit better.
Michael Gove: I think that it is the Secretary of State who will get an F for fail. The Association of Colleges has looked at our figures, and the 80,000 whom we are talking about are all people who were in school in 2002. Whether or not they went on to school or sixth-form college, we looked at those who went on to Oxbridge. The right hon. Gentleman's deputy, the Minister for Schools and Learners, repeated that mistake two weeks ago and had to acknowledge that it was an error. I hope the Secretary of State will have the good grace to acknowledge his error when he comes back to the Dispatch Box now. When more than 40 per cent. of the people who go on to Oxford and Cambridge come from fee-paying independent schools, where they have access to the high quality IGCSE, why does he deny poorer pupils in state schools the chance to have that high quality qualification? Why the prejudice towards the poor from his Labour Government?
Mr. Speaker: Order. I am sorry, but I counted four questions there. In the next set, we must not have a repetition.
Ed Balls: I will do my best to answer all four questions, to the extent that I followed them. The point that I was making is that the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) regularly alleges, as he did only a week and a half ago, that only 189 pupils eligible for free school meals got three As at A-level, but he counts only pupils at maintained schools' sixth forms and excludes those who go to sixth-form colleges or further education colleges. I have written to him and contacted him to try to get him to correct that mistake, but he refuses to do so. Similarly, he refuses to acknowledge that his free schools initiative will not only divert money away from other state schools, but will lead to falling standards and greater social inequality. I would have thought that he would join me in congratulating the six areas which today have been given more than £400 million of school investment. Let me read a quote from EducationInvestor- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker: Order. There is far too much wittering from a sedentary position taking place-
Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con): The Secretary of State is wittering from the Dispatch Box.
Mr. Speaker: Order. Mr, Gray, calm yourself. It is not good for your health. The Secretary of State may quote very briefly.
Ed Balls: Very briefly, the quote is:
That was the shadow schools Minister. What that means is that schemes at 700 schools in 50 areas could potentially be cancelled by a Conservative local authority. That is the threat to school building. That is why the hon. Member for Surrey Heath will not talk about the Swedish model or his school building-
Mr. Speaker: Order. I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. We now need to move on.
