The Importance Of Education In Education

Post war Britain brought us education for all and by the 1960s education was seen as something to help end divisions of social class. The Thatcher and Major Conservative government in the 1970s and 1980s took on a meritocracy approach within their political ideology. They introduced Market forces and competition into the education system, this was also carried on by following government, the result of this was an increase in social and economic inequalities for particular social groups. Tomlinson explains how there was a contradiction between Blair’s (the following governments prime minister) idea of ending social exclusion yet creating an education system built on a meritocracy. The point Tomlinson is making that rewarding people who perform in a superior way is excluding people who are unable to perform to the same effect.

By the 1990s Education Institutions where following the lead of global markets through creating competition, this was done through creating league tables and Ofsted inspection. The idea around this was to increase human capital by developing education therefore improving the national economy and improving the divisions of social class. “Investments in learning in the mid-21st Century is the equivalent of investing in machinery and technical innovations, then it was capital, now it is human capital” (Tomlinson, 2005). Tomlinson goes on to explaint5 the New Labour government made education and training an essential commodity to its Policy making. They made it clear the investment in human capital was to use education as a means to improve the nation’s economy.

The 1994 act provided a system whereby education was granted to all, it brought in a new schooling arrangement called the tripartite system. Although the...

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...ucated in a single schooling system (cite this). When the suggestion of ousting Grammar schools and replacing comprehensive schools were proposed it gained many critics from the political right and the media. In the 1970s Margret Thatcher made free for local authorities to choose whether they would like to go comprehensive or not. (Citation) When the conservative government came to power, the policy’s created in education were to uphold right wing desires for private education and to introduce market forces in schools via giving parents the choice to what school they would like their child to go to. This was also happening in other countries around the world although schools were allowed to practice with more freedom. Thatcher’s belief on education was the acceptance of the hierarchal understanding, meaning certain people in society hold a certain place in society.