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Magazine Issue 8 - Spring 1999 | ||
| The Trojan Horses of Privatisation “If education action zones take off nationally they will become the Trojan Horse that will destroy local education authorities as we know them.” - David Hart, National Association of Head Teachers. On 24th June 1998 the first 25 EAZs were launched from Shell International’s Lambeth headquarters. Shell themselves will be playing a controversial role in the Lambeth EAZ, as it will be they, rather than the LEA that will be chairing the zone. Other companies that will be contributing to the EAZ scheme in cash or kind include British Aerospace, BT, IBM, ICL, Marks and Spencer, Rolls Royce and Tate and Lyle. The government aims to have set up 100 zones by the end of this Parliament. It appears the aim is to ensure the commercial colonisation of areas of society where people have successfully fought in the past to keep capitalist ideas and practices out (or at least to a minimum) - for example schools, hospitals, community centres and council services. Teacher’s leaders vigorously oppose the moves towards business led EAZs. Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT said “Profiteering by private companies from education action zones is unacceptable and would contradict an undertaking given by the education secretary to this union.” EAZ opponents have raised the possibility of strike action, and with the first EAZs it appears the government ‘lost its nerve’ and gave local authorities considerable power in the zones. There is some doubt whether it would be possible to introduce business led ‘Charter’ schools on the American model. However, the government has not ruled out such schools. US companies such as SABIS Educational Systems are keeping a close eye on the EAZ scheme, and remain interested so long as they acquire ‘complete control of what happens in a school’. |