Topic > The influence of privatization on education in both Scotland and England

Privatization is a word that has become more common across the political spectrum in recent decades. With the privatization of Royal Mail (for the first time in its 500 year history), British Telecoms PLC, British Airways and Jaguar, we will examine how one of the UK's largest sectors is at risk of full privatization and how privatization has influenced the education sector in recent decades. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayPrivatization of an industry often sees increased competition within a market as the government reduces regulations of an industry in order to reduce pressure on the market. government. Privatization of the education sector began “under the New Right government (1979-1997), and continued under New Labor (1997-2010) and the Coalition/Conservative government (2010 – present)”. (Revise Sociology), this led to the exogenous privatization of the market, i.e. the creation of academic schools in England, all managed by companies with primary objectives all linked to business. This means that the goal of academies is to make a high profit rather than putting the student at the forefront of corporate goals. Höläne Mulholland and Jessica Shepherd of The Guardian say: “Around 40% of secondary schools in England are now academies” (the Guardian 2013). The problem is that academies were initially set up to benefit schools in deprived areas or schools in failure, however “the situation has changed dramatically to embrace all types of schools – successful or not”. To promote this priority is given to “the best performing schools”. This then leads to problems with the achievement gap. Endogenous marketization or privatization was a term created during the Thatcher era which indicates the application of market forces to education and the reduction of state control over the education sector. Furthermore, it increases competition between schools. Some of the factors have promoted marketization have been the "funding formula", the "exam rankings". The achievement gap has been drastically affected by recent reforms in the sector. All academies have their own admissions policies on what pupils can attend at a particular school and free school meals, a broad argument with academies and free school meals is that because free school meals are not provided by the school authority The academy, therefore, has to finance them and this leads to many budget problems in an academy. For example, a study by The Guardian states: “Canary Wharf College, in Tower Hamlets, London, has just 5.4% FSM eligibility compared to 30% deprivation in its community.” Since the pupil-community relationship is somewhat balanced, this leads to questioning the organization of the academy in England. Furthermore, the extracurricular activities offered by a school also represent an important point in the academy's budget. In Scotland, however, South Ayrshire Council provides the most funding for secondary school students to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, an award that looks good on any jobseeker's CV. However, many academics in England would never be able to compete with the funding involved, as it would take a large portion of the budget to fund it. Another important factor in the budget of academies is teachers' salaries. Performance-related pay is one of the latest agents to hit the headlinesin the last few months. As with any job in the private sector, there is now the possibility of earning commissions, tips, bonuses and incentives. This is starting to be implemented in academies. The topic raises many questions: How do you measure a school's performance? I think the first thing that comes to mind is exam results. It is evident that exam results are higher in more privileged areas, this therefore leads to more privileged students being given higher priority in being accepted into academies. Returning to the problem of the achievement gap. Tackling the issue of performance pay has proven to be a real problem for the government as it raises issues such as a healthy work-life balance. It is clear that performance-based pay will push teachers to spend more time in the classroom or at home caring for their pupils. “Set personal goals should fit into teachers' lives, says Birchall.” As the academic system encourages the freedom of the school, who is there to regulate all these teacher objectives, there are a staggering “442,000 full-time teachers working in English schools”. Such a large number would prove difficult to regulate by any means. However, it is a system that works well in other private sectors. One of the most positive ways in which the privatization of education has been by increasing competition between schools and raising standards due to the interest in attracting top achieving students. of pupils, however, therefore contradicts the very reason why academy schools were established: to ensure that low-performing schools or schools in more deprived areas achieve better results. private companies indeed have the power to choose the best schools up and down the country. In addition to this, by having our schools in the hands of private companies, they aim to reduce costs as low as possible, which means that theoretically it will be more efficient, but is the quality of our education compromised? The construction of new schools and maintenance of buildings is another issue criticized due to privatization, new school buildings were financed through the Private Finance initiative, another private organization at the forefront of education. The PFI financed private companies to construct the building and in exchange the companies served the schools for a set period of time, often 25-35 years. However, a recent report into building defects "led to the closure of 17 Edinburgh schools" and "placed the blame on poor construction quality and lack of oversight, rather than design problems or the PFI funding model", this led to a documentary being made by the BBC asking "how safe is my school?" and begs the question: How reliable are private contractors? They seek to “maximize profits like any private sector organization and accelerate the construction programme, reducing design specifications and project quality,” said renowned Glasgow architect Alan Dunlop. Therefore we are paying a higher sum for a lower standard of quality for many more decades to come. In addition to material deprivation (the inability to afford basic resources and services) it is under the government's magnifying glass. As there is increasing conflict among pupils and students today over the choice between paid work and further education, the cost of living is rising and undoubtedly puts a strain on low-income families. Accordingly, Conner et al (2001) and Forsyth and Furlong (2003) both found that the introduction of taxes?