Kevin Rowan

Oct 23 2006 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - an old and well-known adage. One that isn't applied very often by those in Government, at all levels.

When Labour came to power in 1997, the mantra for prioritising Government action, and spending, was `education, education, education', and there was a clear focus on the NHS, too.

The Government must be applauded for putting its money where its mouth is. In both of these areas there have been enormous increases in public spending; staffing levels and salaries have increased significantly, especially when considered relative to other areas of the public sector.

There is evidence, too, to suggest that the performance of these key areas of public service has improved radically over the 10-year period.

Health service waiting lists are as low as they've been for generations, quality of care is highly regarded by those receiving it, and the NHS remains as popular as ever.

There remain challenges, however, and there are differing views about how these might be addressed, but I'll save the NHS discussion for another time.

In education, what is clear is that since 1997 the investment in schools, teachers and teaching support staff has contributed to year-on-year improvements in educational attainment at all levels.

Academic performance at 16 and 18 has improved so much that some are questioning whether the exam system is stretching enough! Within this increased level of success we have the main opposition party challenging the `value for money' of the investment in education.

Don't the results speak for themselves and for the performance of teachers and schools? We also have had some spurious and rapidly changing claims from the Government regarding the numbers of children still not receiving a good enough quality of education, coupled with radical plans for changes to school management arrangements in the form of city academies and trust schools.

One should admire and appreciate the constant ambition and drive to continually raise standards, to ensure that all children get the very best education. But that doesn't imply that we should throw out what we can all see is working very well already.

As a trade unionist and as a parent, I speak to teachers every week. They very much welcome the extra investment that has been made in schools and staff, but are struggling to cope with the administrative burdens that the constant changes of the last 10 years have placed upon them.

Despite this, they are performing better than ever and the one thing that they need now is for there to be some stability, to be left alone to get on with the job we can all see they are doing so well. Perhaps the best thing for Government to do here is to appreciate that and just say `thank you'.