Speaking up for the comps

Unite delegate John Wiseman, spoke in support of the confererence’s education motions.

Wiseman said you didn’t have to look past the current Tory front bench to know why private education is such a problem.

He asked, “How can it be right that, in 21^st Century Britain we still have a feudal education system, where a privileged few receive tax subsidised education on the back ordinary working people?

“But rather than abolish these aberrations our government continues to push further privatisation through academies and free schools.

“But I’m not just here to support these vital motions,” he revealed. “I am also here to speak up for comprehensive education! Conference I was a teacher in a Liverpool comprehensive for 17 and a half years.  And as an active union officer in education I’ve seen the damage that this Tory government has done.”

He continued, “I’ve seen the damage to the curriculum. Turning schools into exam factories, and failing pupils on a massive scale. Education staff, have had their pay and terms slashed and morale in schools has never been so low. Chief executives of academy chains being paid huge salaries while public scrutiny has been ripped out.”

“Conference my Union is firmly behind the idea of a National Education Service and comprehensive education must be central to that,” he concluded.