The shadow paymaster general has voiced his concerns about Labour's education policy ahead of the government's launch of a major consultation and review of education regulator, Ofsted, including plans to use colour-coding to grade schools. Report by Faragt. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Look, I'm quite concerned about Labour's education policy in general. It looks like they're trying
00:04to weaken standards across the board and also there's a question about weakening school
00:08accountability as well. We all want to see a fair system in which teachers ensure that
00:14they can progress and improve children's education. It's not about blame game. But I do want to
00:19ensure that there is really clear choice for parents and that we're driving up standards
00:23because actually this isn't really about the schools so much. This is about the kids' future.
00:27This is what it's all about. It's about ensuring that they have the best possible future and the
00:31best possible opportunities for their lives. Well I don't think, I think what parents want
00:35is clarity as well when they're thinking about schools for their children and thinking about
00:39where they want to go. So no, I don't support that. Obviously there's nuance to every situation.
00:45But I really do think that this current system provides real clarity for parents. We've also
00:49seen a number of schools which were good or outstanding increase from about two thirds
00:54to almost 90% under the last government. I think the simplicity of it really helped drive up those
01:01standards because people knew what they were aiming for. And I think that's only fair that
01:05teachers also know what is being expected of them. And I think that clarity is provided under that.
01:11I don't want to go to a situation which we were in the past or we've seen in Wales over the last
01:1625 years where Labour have been in charge there where we've actually seen school standards
01:20dropping. Whereas in England we've seen them go up under the last Conservative government.