Clegg is wrong when it comes to for-profit schools
5 September 2011
SUGGESTED
Markets and Morality
Mark Littlewood comments on the proposed reforms
31 August 2011
Markets and Morality
Mark Littlewood and Prof Philip Booth comment on the proposals
12 September 2011
Lifestyle Economics
15 November 2024
James Croft comments on Nick Clegg's pronouncements
Commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s statements re running schools for profit, James Croft, Education Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs said:
“Nick Clegg is totally wrong when it comes to running schools for profit. Evidence from Sweden shows that for-profit schools invest to ensure high-quality outcomes and that their impact tends to be greatest on those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
“Rather than being socially divisive – as Clegg states – evidence shows that giving schools greater freedom over curriculum and teaching priorities stimulates innovation and that increased competition drives up standards across the board.
“This kind of reactionary thinking is precisely what has kept our state education system in the mire for decades. Nick Clegg would do better to look at the actual facts rather than indulging in populist anti-capitalist rhetoric.”
Notes to editors
To arrange an interview with James Croft, Education Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, please contact Stephanie Lis, Communications Officer, on slis@iea.org.uk or 020 7799 8900
Schooling for Money: Swedish Education Reform and the Role of the Profit Motiveby Gabriel H Sahlgren was published in Dec 2010. Looking at the effect of for-profit schools in Sweden, it found that competition that drove improvements in the Swedish system was only possible because of the high number of for-profit schools that were established.
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties
“Nick Clegg is totally wrong when it comes to running schools for profit. Evidence from Sweden shows that for-profit schools invest to ensure high-quality outcomes and that their impact tends to be greatest on those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
“Rather than being socially divisive – as Clegg states – evidence shows that giving schools greater freedom over curriculum and teaching priorities stimulates innovation and that increased competition drives up standards across the board.
“This kind of reactionary thinking is precisely what has kept our state education system in the mire for decades. Nick Clegg would do better to look at the actual facts rather than indulging in populist anti-capitalist rhetoric.”
Notes to editors
To arrange an interview with James Croft, Education Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, please contact Stephanie Lis, Communications Officer, on slis@iea.org.uk or 020 7799 8900
Schooling for Money: Swedish Education Reform and the Role of the Profit Motiveby Gabriel H Sahlgren was published in Dec 2010. Looking at the effect of for-profit schools in Sweden, it found that competition that drove improvements in the Swedish system was only possible because of the high number of for-profit schools that were established.
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties
SHARE
