taken BY THE END of March the great 'debate' on education will have picion at the men and women who in conferences. As a finale we are had no great inclination nor talent paper. But even before the end of who launched the expansion of the the regional conferences one thing colleges during the 'golden years"
clear: this is no democratic now she debate. In each regional event so far something like 200 delegates to resign. have had only 45 minutes for disthen has the NUT described the basis of this debate in such glowing terms, even to us extent of saying that it is a recogninon that caucanon road to growth"?
It is clear that the aim of the skills that are usetul to industry exercise for the Labour governintervention into education and to sugar the pill of massive cuts by saying that standards can be raised as resources are destroyed.
"debate issues that are at stake for workers and their children in a society that allows one in three to leave school and join the dole queue.
If Shirley Williams Labour leaders were really interin a debate about education of the people they claim to represent, they would start with would a amierent agenda examine the effects that the denial and a half million two- to five-year been olds. They would look at the reve- training lation of the Bullock Report that 40 percent of schools had only eight books per pupil. They would look at teacher unemployment and its effect on class sizes.
But the NUT leaders know that this alternative to the sham debate of the CBI and DES would give service unions and them the job of leading a fight in the Labour and trade union movement against government cuts and une social Condul But these 'debates' do more than act as a smokescreen for cuts; they try to finger scapegoats. Williams, who once professed a passionate belief in the welfare of the working class, now says that some of our schools are poor not because of the buildings or local difficulties, but because of weakness in staffing taking.
see the second open conference of Socialist Teachers Alliance NUT.
[STA] formed in November 1976.
The conference presents an important opportunity for militants in the education sector to spell out a strategy for fighting the cuts.
Despite the fact that the cuts are an integral part of the Contract, Doug McAvoy, Deputy General Secretary of the National Militants in the NUT must be able Union of Teachers, told teachers to put forward concrete policie on strike in Hereford recently that the NUT leadership 'had given its rest to a third vear of the Social Contract and would recomconference at Easter to support TUC policy for a abolition planned return to free collective Fortunately McAvoy is not the only person in the NUT with ideas on how to fight the cuts. The topic of 'cuts' was voted top of the the NUT's Easter Conference, receiving 88,647 votes. reveal their plans on education Of all the motions on this topic motion 73 backed by 16 local NUT campaign for national strike action associations and initiated and supported by the Socialist Teachers She points the finger of sus regional entered the profession ... who green for teaching'. She was one of those appeals to the con A key factor in this charade is the intervention of industry. No conten wise accuse mne school of being wasteful drains on th economy. they blame the schoo for unemployment and stagnation in mausty. inc schools, uncy sdy do not provide young people wit But industry does not want to justify government pay even for these limited objec lives. Iney want me burdca training placed squarely on the schools. It is notable that there ha been a sharp decline in the number clouds the real of day release and apprenticeship courses over the last two years.
Instead of lining up with th TUC leaders behind the Labour government's attacks, the NUT leadership should organise a fight would be the real answer to hypocrites like the Daily Mail who described the hundreds of students who tried to make their voices heard in the great 'debate at Bradford as a screaming mob. Many of this 'screaming mob' had encouraged into teacher colleges by the same Labour leadership that wishes to throw them out.
Three hundred people organisec a real debate on education a Newcastle Polytechnic on 18 Feb ruary that showed the way forward. Members of many public unemployed teachers discussed the effects o the cuts on education.
concluded that the ... "great debate' on education is an empty diversion and should not be continued in its present undemoc ratic form'. Militants in the trade unions, especially the NUT, and in the student movement will be demonstrating to their leaderships over the coming months that this is the sort of initiative they should be important step forward in the • conference must also swer the right-wing attacks which attempt to shore up the Social Contract by calling for increases in local authority rates or which attempt to put the blame for the Social cuts on car workers or some other section fighting for wage increases.
which can unite teachers with th of the labour movement through demands which the whole of the movement can fight for.
Such demands should include the interesi - терну ments [currently running at £100,000 Inner London Education Author ity alone!; the protection of a educational spending, including wages, against campaign for local councils to But above all the STA has to which is the only way a real fight against the cuts can be developed.
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call conference This week-end, 5 and 6 March, will be to discuss how to strengthen this