New Labour 1997-2010

• Sure Start Schools- Placed in the most disadvantaged areas to try and raise the educational achievement of young children from low-income families
• City Academies- State funded but run by private companies or voluntary organisations. They were set up as part of Tony Blair's drive to increase social inclusion and reduce inequality.
• Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) - Children aged 16-19 from low-income families paid weekly to attend college/sixth form
• Raised the school leaving age to 18
• Education Action Zones (EAZ) - Aimed to improve educational attainment in areas with high levels of deprivation by providing additional resources
• Problems with the EAZ's is that they do not tackle the problem of poverty and material deprivation
• Problems with the EMA is that pupils could still be unmotivated for school and only attend lessons to collect their money
• National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies - Having designated hours for literacy and numeracy in schools to improve attainment of underachieving WC pupils
• Problems with the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies is that it was not made compulsory for all schools, so many did not implement it. Schools who don't have issues with literacy and numeracy could see this as a waste of time
• Reduced class sizes in Primary schools - LEAs set a limit of less than 30 pupils per class to allow more individual teacher attention
• Specialist schools - Secondary schools encouraged to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to offer parents a greater choice and boost achievement - can build on strengths
• Criticisms of New Labour Policies:

  •New Labour also introduced tuition fees for university which discouraged WC pupils - contradicts ideas of getting WC pupils good qualifications•Allowed private schools to continue (pay less tax as classed as a charity)•Some of the policies were too expensive so were abolished (EMA)•Policies that focus on material concerns don't address cultural concerns and vice versa