Academies - Privatising Public Education In Britain

On Saturday 8th March the South East Regional TUC, working with the Anti Academies Alliance are hosting a National Conference Against Academies at Congress House, Great Russell Street, London.

There are now over 80 Academies operating around the country, and another 50 are due to open in September. The Academies are run by a variety of sponsors including millionaire "philanthropic" businessmen and religious organisations (sometimes jointly). They represent a major power shift in education, taking away even the semblance of democratic control represented by local education authorities. The sponsors own land and buildings, appoint the majority of governors, and make decisions about what is taught, who is employed and who is admitted.

Academies put staff pay and conditions at risk and where they "succeed" often do this through setting easier exams and excluding far more pupils than other local schools (which they are allowed to do without the penalties the other schools would incur).

The consultations that occur around the setting up of Academies are often the kind of fake-democratic sham that we have come to expect when the word "consultation" is used by government bodies these days.

More information can be found here -

http://www.antiacademies.org.uk/