PARENT POWER'S WARNING LESSON FOR SCHOOLS

27-07-2007

Around 70 people gathered in Digbeth last night to mark the start of a new Parent Power movement designed to improve the quality of Birmingham's education system.

The Stirrer recently revealed that one in six of the city’s schools sends 80% of its pupils into the workforce with fewer than five good GCSEs (see here)

It’s this performance which has prompted angry mums and dads to call for improvements instead of explanations and excuses.

Mother of two Naseem Akhtar from Balsall Heath helped organise the meeting, which was attended by other parents, parent governors, and even one head teacher.

She said: “It was a great turn out, and shows that there are a lot of people out there who aren’t prepared to settle for second best anymore. We had black, Asian and white parents, and young and old.

“It’s not about colour or race or age. The one thing that emerges time after time is that if you are poor, you’ve got less chance of getting a good education.

“Birmingham might say it’s the best performing of the big cities, but that’s not good enough. We’re being told that we’re competing in a global marketplace, so we’ve got to be the best in the world.

“We need the LEA to do its job. That means giving more power to governors, and better performance management of teachers and heads.”

At the meeting it was agreed to set up a permanent group representing concerned parents - more details to come on the Stirrer shortly.