Jeremy Corbyn, Labour party leader, has replied to questions about the party’s plans to abolish Ofsted by saying “you don’t get the best out of people by threatening them”.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 this morning, Mr Corbyn said that the current Ofsted inspection system was a “very assertive form of investigation”.
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Mr Marr pointed out that parents see Ofsted as a guarantor of standards and asked why, then, would Labour abolish it?
Mr Corbyn said: “They [Ofsted] turn up every few years, or sometimes more frequently than that, and do an exercise on that school and then make decision about it.
“The level of stress on students and teachers is absolutely enormous.
“What we want instead is a more frequent form of supportive investigation of schools, an examination of them through HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspectors) but also through local authorities. It is part of reinvigorating local education authoroities to administer all schools within their community area.”
Mr Corbyn then went on to refer to other education policy plans.
“We also want to get rid of Sats testing at key stage 1 and key stage 2,” he said. “Because there is no evidence it actually improves the achievements of children. The stress levels on children are absolutely phenomenal.
“So what we want is an education service that leaves no child behind and gets the best out of everyone.
“We don’t achieve the best by threatening people. We are losing almost as many teachers as we are recruiting every year because of the levels of stress they are under.
“Why is it that young people do the job they really want to do - the job they love - and find after a couple of years that they cannot cope with the levels of stress? We are losing brilliant people - I want to keep them in the profession.”
In response to Labour’s plans on Ofsted, schools minister Nick Gibb has said that it was a sign of the “extreme left-wing ideological drift that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has taken”.
And added: “Labour are clearly intent on reversing the huge improvements that have been seen, particularly for the most disadvantaged children, by ending academies and free schools.
“Now they want to stop parents having even the most basic information so that they can make informed choices about their children’s schools.”
