31st May 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The future of the departing Labour Government’s tuition policy is in doubt after the new Tory Lib-Dem coalition government announced spending cuts last week. The BBC has reported that the schemes, which promised to provide English and Maths tutors to those students who are falling behind, will have reduced funding in light of the reduction in public spending needed to reduce the economic deficit. In total, the plans will save £110m.
The tuition policies have been widely supported particularly by studies into its success. It’s said that they have helped students from more deprived backgrounds keep up with their classmates, whereas they would otherwise be falling behind. However, the government has said that they intend to introduce a ‘pupil premium’ to give private tuition to those disadvantaged students who would benefit most from it.
The cuts are generally aimed to reduce bureaucracy, by removing a significant amount of admin, and stopping the central monitoring of the tutoring. The current schemes have guaranteed funding for the 2010-11 academic year, but not after that. It remains to be seen whether private tuition will be a priority for the government after then, or if the economy will continue to add pressure to reduce the amount spent on ‘supplementary’ education.