Opposition Day — Secondary Education — 26 Jun 2012 at 18:59

The majority of MPs voted for changes to the secondary education system to be approved by Parliament.

The majority of MPs voted to replace a motion, the effective element of which stated:

• That this House:
• calls on the Government to ensure any proposal for changes to the secondary education system are subject to approval by the House.

with the following motion:

• That this House:
• notes the forthcoming consultation on the secondary school qualifications and curriculum framework;
• welcomes the opportunity to address the weaknesses of the system introduced by the previous Administration, which undermined confidence in standards, increased inequality and led to a reduction in the take-up of core subjects such as modern languages, history, geography and the sciences; and
• call for proposals which are approved by Parliament and which are based on the principles of high standards for all, greater curriculum freedom, and a qualifications and curriculum framework which supports and stretches every child and which boosts social mobility.”

There appears to be little substantive difference between calling for "proposals which are approved by Parliament" and ensuring "any proposal for changes to the secondary education system are subject to approval by the House". The latter only refers to MPs in the Commons but that doesn't appear to be a key element of the amendment.

A speech during the debate by Kevin Brennan MP (Cardiff West, Labour) indicates a possible explanation for the motion and the amendment; he said^[1]:

• The Government amendment appears to contradict the leaks from the Secretary of State’s advisers last week that he would not need parliamentary approval or Lib Dem support for his proposal to bring back CSEs and O-levels.

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• [1] Kevin Brennan MP (Cardiff West, Labour), House of Commons, 26 June 2012

Debate in Parliament | Source |