Chapter 1:

New Horizons: New Vision

 
Better education and training can help transform society in Wales. Both are central to realising the Secretary of State's goals for a job-creating economy and a better quality of life for everyone. A radical improvement in the skills and educational attainments of all is needed for Wales to survive and succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy and if everyone is to reap the rewards of a demanding future. That has to happen in schools, colleges, universities and the workplace. For schools - the main focus of the White Paper - the task is to lift the achievement of every child so that each one achieves the best of which he or she is capable.
 
 
New commitment

1  In the past, Wales prided itself on its commitment to education as a passport to self-fulfilment. That pride must be renewed on the basis of achievement. There is an emerging determination in Wales to bring about the social and economic transformation which will enable us to reap the potential rewards of the 21st century, and to ensure that they are fairly distributed. But in the society of the new millennium, knowledge and skills will be the key to success or failure. A good education will be more important than ever before. Skills will be the passport to decent jobs and good prospects. The truth is that young people who fail in the education system are likely to become marginalised. Failure to outstrip the skills and productivity of our international competitors will hurt the least skilled and the least qualified most.

2  We must do all we can to prevent the emergence of a permanent underclass in Wales. A divided society is both economically and morally unsustainable: economically because it burdens the taxpayer and restricts the potential for growth; morally because we judge the quality of our society by the condition of the weak as well as the strong. Each of us, whatever we do, can contribute to creating a society which is dynamic and productive, offering opportunity and fairness for the many and not just the few in Wales.

3  The key to this transformation lies in education. Those responsible for providing education and training - including teachers, governors, parents and employers, as well as local government and the Welsh Office - bear a shared responsibility for creating a better future for our young people. That is why education was featured as the number one priority in the manifesto on which the Government was elected. This White Paper - the first so comprehensively and exclusively focused on education in Wales in modern times - is being published in the light of our pledge.

4  Schools have to set their sights on lifting their performance year by year, and given the progress already achieved, significant improvement is clearly within their grasp. That standards have improved in recent years is a tribute to the efforts of teachers in Wales and pupils' hard work. They have had to cope with seemingly permanent and often disruptive change, with great resilience. Yet we cannot be complacent. Standards of achievement are still far too low. The status quo is not an option.

5  At the same time we willingly acknowledge that teachers have been buffeted by many ill-conceived changes over the last decade. All too often their professionalism has been disdained. As a result their morale has been badly damaged. This must stop. Higher standards are won first and foremost in the classroom, with teachers leading the way. Their expertise is amongst the most - if not the most - important in our society. And this must be recognised, not casually, but on the basis of genuine, well earned respect. In return, we expect teachers to engage with us in a crusade to raise standards substantially in Wales - and to do so with the sort of rigour and dedication that is the hallmark of a major profession. In sum we must:

• aspire to higher standards and achieve continuous improvement in educational attainment;

• recognise teachers' demanding work; their professional training needs; and the critically important leadership job of Heads in both primary and secondary schools;

• open up qualification routes that are broad enough to unlock talents and build marketable skills;

• generate motivation and self-belief amongst pupils at school to fit them for a lifetime of learning and growing wiser;

• co-operate to make the best use of resources and ensure that public and private bodies work together to remove obstacles to success in school and beyond.

6  Improved standards and better results are essential if Wales is to compete successfully in global markets. Our companies depend on the skills, imagination, inventiveness and talents of their staff. We cannot compete on the basis of low wages and low skills. Young people will increasingly find themselves competing for jobs against their peers from other countries. Unless our education system matches the best in the world, our economy will suffer and our young people will feel betrayed.

7  Yet the goals of education go much further than this. A good education opens doors to the whole cultural life of Wales and beyond. It opens the way to a balanced, and fulfilling life in adulthood. Participation in drama, music and the other arts, together with hands-on experience of science, technology and IT (in both Welsh and English), gives children the chance to contribute to and appreciate life in the round. Opportunities to relate learning to the world of work enhance pupils' performance and increase their awareness of the relevance of their education to the future prosperity of Wales. Education enables children and young people to learn respect for others, whether from similar or different backgrounds. They learn how to resolve disagreements humanely. They learn the moral attitudes to work and life like generosity, commitment, determination and responsibility on which a successful democratic society in Wales depends.

8  Of course, for many children, these important lessons will be learnt and reinforced elsewhere - in voluntary and community activity, in their religious lives and certainly in their families. But schools need a curriculum designed to support these objectives to help create strong, caring, communities. More generally, the National Curriculum - linked coherently to statutory assessment, accompanied by sound school inspection and more information for parents - remains vital to the task of raising standards. In our approach to the National Curriculum for Wales, we shall learn the lessons of the recent past and avoid unnecessary change and interference. Key priorities lie in literacy and numeracy. But we remain committed to a balanced and broadly based curriculum, promoting the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs, and to preparing pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult and working life.

9  Within these broad curriculum objectives (and recognising the need for curriculum stability at least to the year 2000) we shall encourage schools to develop options which motivate all pupils and which capture the imagination of those young people - many of them boys - who have given up on school and joined the ranks of the disaffected. Schools must be places of hope and opportunity for them, just as they must provide opportunities which stretch the gifted and well supported. Schools must stand for the needs of all pupils and help them achieve the best of which they are capable.

10  We do not underestimate the challenge this presents. It cannot be met without close partnership between all those interested in education, especially parents, governors, teachers and the wider community, including business people. We invite everyone in Wales to consider the proposals in this White Paper; to comment on them; and to join in creating a world class education service in Wales and to build a world class economy.