from The Sunday Times, 4th October 2009
Michael Gove has asserted that the privately-run, but ‘free’ independent state schools which form a cornerstone of the Convservative’s education policy, are not to be profit-making enterprises. This contrasts strongly with a suggestion made by Anders Hultin, a former adviser to the Swedish government, that parents will lack motivation to establish the new form of schools – where they are most needed – unless there is opportunity to generate profit.
The interview with Michael Gove, seen in the Sunday Times, provides a useful insight into the Conservative mindset ahead of their party conference in Manchester this week.
If the Conservatives introduce the much-discussed ‘free independents’ on winning the next election, the knock-on effects for the independent schools sector could be significant. The mtmconsulting Independent Education Sector Report 2010, which was published last month and is the leading guide to the health of the independent schools sector and school business strategies, suggested that ”plans for privately provided, but free, schools will both drive up standards in the state sector generally and attract pupils away from independent schools”. Coupled with falling affordability in the wake of the recession the effects of this are likely to be severe.
Michael Gove went on to assert in the interview that his “policies are aimed at the Gateshead mum… a no-nonsense working class woman passionate about her kids. Passionate enough to set up a massive comprehensive with 2,500 feral children on a depressed sink estate.” Assuming there proves to be propensity in communities for this to actually happen, Gove’s vision may provide some clues as to how the independent sector may differentiate itself from the independent state offering: with clear school marketing messages alluding to the centuries of expertise, passion and innovation that have made Britain’s independent education a brand respected across the globe. School business leaders and school and college strategic plans may do well to focus on this educational marketing message.
mtmconsulting is this week exhibiting at the HMC (Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference), where school leaders from 250 of the country’s top schools will discuss the sector and its future. With a Conservative victory looking, to a degree, like a foregone conclusion, the impact of Michael Gove’s plans, future school business strategies, and educational marketing for the independent education sector as a whole are likely to be hotly debated at the HMC conference.
To read the interview with Michael Gove, the Conservative’s Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on the Sunday Times website please click here.
For more information on the mtmconsulting Independent Education Sector Report 2010, or to discuss our school management consulting and school business strategy services, please contact us.
