As the General Election on July 4 looms and the race to Westminster gathers speed, the Indie is asking the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green Party and Reform UK candidates for the Hertford and Stortford seat to answer a series of questions on key issues identified by readers:
Labour is pledging to charge private schools 20% VAT and the Conservatives want to scrap “rip-off” degree courses to fund apprenticeships. What measures do you believe are most important to achieve the best educational outcomes for all young people?
Dr John Burmicz, Reform UK candidate and a former Sawbridgeworth mayor and town councillor: “Well, this is just the tip of the ‘politics of envy’ iceberg.
Bearing in mind that a large number of champagne socialist politicians either attended themselves or send their children to private schools, this is a hypocritical outrage. Why cause harm to a system that works? It does not need fixing or meddling with.
As for the rip-off courses, I have to say that I agree entirely that the tertiary education system needs severe reform. There are deans and chairs of faculties on outrageous salaries. The fees are ridiculous.
I would personally favour a system whereby fees for serious subjects such as engineering, sciences, mathematics, languages and so on are funded by the state, as they used to be. If you want to do anything else of a fringe nature, then that is your choice and you should pay the going rate.
As for apprenticeships, I am all for them. In Germany, for example, there is no shame in taking an apprentice course in electrical engineering and the status of MeisterElectriker is held in high esteem.”
Cllr Helen Campbell, Liberal Democrat candidate and a Herts county councillor for St Albans: “Liberal Democrats want every child to get the right support and to leave school with the skills, confidence and resilience to be happy and successful.
We will increase school and college funding per pupil annually by more than inflation, clear the shocking repairs backlog and invest in new buildings. We will also put a dedicated qualified mental health professional in every school.
In government, we introduced free school meals for pupils in their first three years. We will extend this to all primary children and disadvantaged secondary children, funded by a share buyback tax.
We also introduced the pupil premium, targeting funding for disadvantaged children. We would extend this to 16- to 18-year-olds.
We will reinstate maintenance grants for disadvantaged students so that living costs are not a barrier to university study, and we will return to Erasmus so young people can once again study, teach and volunteer in the EU.”
Cllr Nick Cox, Green Party candidate and a member of East Herts Council for Ware: “The Green Party believes that education transforms lives and would invest heavily in education to ensure every pupil reaches their full potential.
The Green Party’s education policy proposals include increasing investment into schools and requiring all teachers in state-funded education to have qualified teacher status.
The Greens will delay the start of formal education until the age of six and replace the national curriculum with a set of ‘learning entitlements’, which would include creative and physical activities like swimming.
We will scrap SATs and league tables, replace Ofsted with a National Council of Educational Excellence and pay school governors.
Greens will provide free school meals for all primary and secondary school children and offer 35 hours a week of free childcare for all from the age of nine months so that every child gets the care they need and every parent can go to work if they want to.
We will also scrap tuition fees in further education.”
Cllr Josh Dean, Labour candidate and a member of Hertford Town Council: “Young people are being failed by the Tories. Our education system should instil confidence and resilience, knowledge and skills, and a love of learning to carry throughout life.
And there should be high-quality pathways to apprenticeships, and technical education.
Young people should be supported to develop their skills to shape and use new technologies, to generate ideas to respond to our rapidly changing world. This starts with childcare that delivers life chances for all children as well as work choices for parents.
We will introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school, driving up attendance and standards, and improving mental health support for all our young people.”
Julie Marson, Conservative candidate seeking re-election for a second term: “Scrapping degrees with the poorest job prospects and highest dropout rates is key to financing new apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships provide fantastic opportunities, especially for those not suited to ‘traditional’ education routes. Whilst I went to university, my brother did an engineering apprenticeship which taught him valuable skills whilst earning money.
Labour’s VAT pledge would seriously impact our state schools, increasing fees in private schools and considerably increasing class sizes in mainstream schools, potentially reducing the quality of education for all, including SEND pupils.
Additionally, it would further increase the exclusivity of remaining schools with even higher fees, worsening the attainment gap that Labour claims to be solving.
Locally, I have been working to introduce a further education college in Bishop’s Stortford and I have organised three job fairs, online, including at Grange Paddocks, bringing together jobseekers and employers. I want to continue to promote high-quality opportunities for all.”
There are two other candidates for Hertford and Stortford: Jane Fowler, of the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, and Barry Hensall, of the Heritage Party. Their candidacies were not declared until after we had approached the five other candidates with our question.