Parents make classy move

30.08.19: THE PARENTS' Coalition (PC) has struck a crucial blow in its battle to deliver education from private management and return it to the state.

Worcestershire PC has snaffled a prime school site from under the noses of Force 2000, the government-appointed commercial education providers.

Worcestershire regional authority has agreed to provide some of the funding for the renovation of the Grade II-listed Victorian building.

Robert Gibson, chair of the Worcestershire PC, said: "We are hoping that this is the first of many schools to come back under democratic community and parental control.

"For too long we have been losing the battle over the education of our children in a privatised free-for-all. Now we will seek charitable status and direct central government funding in order to provide a genuinely democratic school for all children in the area."

The Parents' Coalition has been particularly active in Worcestershire as local schools have closed down and parents in rural areas have complained of the inaccessibility of the new private schools and colleges.

In Wales, schools are still funded by the Welsh Assembly and have escaped the wholesale privatisation that has developed throughout England. Welsh schools have kept their own curriculum and many are now reporting better results than English private schools.

The Department of Education and Enterprise declined to comment on the acquisition, stating only that it was "entirely satisfied" with England's educational strategy being implemented by professional providers.