The shadow schools minister has accused the prime minister of living in an “alternative world” following the government’s announcement of the new Advanced British Standard.
In her first speech in the role, shadow schools minister Catherine McKinnell also accused Rishi Sunak of once again announcing a “back-of-the-envelope 16-19 maths policy” while “roofs up and down the country are literally propped up”.
Speaking at the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) annual conference today, Ms McKinnell also highlighted the current shortage of qualified maths teachers in the teacher workforce.
Her comments come after Mr Sunak used his keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday to announce the creation of a new Advanced British Standard, which he said would bring together A levels and T levels into a new single qualification for school leavers.
Under the Advanced British Standard, all students will study some form of maths and English to age 18. However, the government said the ambition was long term and would not result in the awarding of an ABS certificate for at least a decade.
“Speaking of adding up, in what alternative world must our prime minister be living to announce the back-of-the-envelope 16-19 maths policy, which he did again yesterday while roofs up and down the country are literally propped up?” Ms McKinnell asked.
Keegan: A-level plan ‘difficult’ but ‘profound’
Speaking at the CST conference earlier today, education secretary Gillian Keegan said that she was “under no illusions about the scale” of the changes, which she described as “profound” and “long term”.
However, Ms Keegan said that she was in the job to do “difficult things because difficult things are what make a difference”.
Ms McKinnell also criticised Ms Keegan’s response to increased fears over reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools.
Referencing the education secretary’s comments last month that some children prefer being taught in temporary buildings to classrooms, Ms McKinnell said that she knows the reality of temporary accommodation and that she would “never make light of it”.
And on the worsening recruitment and retention crisis, the shadow schools minister said that we face an “unprecedented workforce challenge” and that the “high turnover is a warning sign” that needs to be addressed.
The Labour Party has previously pledged to hire 6,500 new teachers to address the supply crisis.
Ms McKinnell also accused the government of not even seeing child poverty “as a problem to be solved” and said that it was “alarming” that the country was continually heading in the wrong direction.
