Chapter 26 Chapter 7 The blow of reality

The first few months of 1973 were relatively quiet for the Department of Education and Science, apart from a few heated debates by Roy Hattersley, the new articulate Labour's education spokesman, over the pace of growth in education spending.But shortly thereafter, the consequences of the government's fiscal and monetary policies continued to hit us.The first was in May, with a series of spending cuts to cool an overheated economy.Capital spending on education, especially higher education, which is less politically sensitive, is an obvious target for cuts.As a result, I fended off pressure from the Treasury Department to save funding for the elementary school program from being cut.

But other problems have arisen in the Ministry of Education and Science's budget.Inflationary pressures are driving up prices in the construction sector, while an increasingly concerned finance ministry is refusing to approve more spending.The rest of the plan to build primary schools had to be slowed down.The government will make a firm decision on spending cuts in October.As October approaches, it becomes increasingly clear to me that cuts to government spending are imperative and that early agreement to cuts to the education budget made political sense to the new First Secretary of the Treasury, Patrick Jenkin.As a result, funding for the construction of primary schools and teacher training has been cut and school meals have been increased.

The savings don't end there.With the impact of the December oil crisis and miners' strike, Tony Barber began desperately looking for ways to tighten the budget further.Capital spending is the only area where significant cuts in government spending can be made immediately.Therefore, the ministers are required to reduce the capital construction plan by 1/5, and reduce the procurement of materials and other recurrent goods and services by 1/10.In accordance with this requirement, I further cut the construction plans for primary and secondary schools and higher education. The most painful thing is that I have to suspend the renovation of dilapidated primary schools; in the long run, it will inevitably reduce the growth rate of the number of students.The Ministry of Education and Science's 1974-1975 budget was cut by £182 million - a total cut of £1.2 billion in government spending.But I managed to temporarily save the early childhood education program and the construction of special schools.

At this point, my thoughts quickly focused on the various catastrophic events that were befalling the government.It won't be long before I'm going to have to take to the street podium to defend the policies I enforced during my time at the Department of Education.I didn't find it difficult to do so, as progress was made in almost every way.If the measure of "progress" is agreed--amounts set aside, not results achieved--these years of work have also yielded truly unprecedented improvements.Nearly 2,000 outdated primary schools have been rebuilt or repaired in England and Wales; early childhood education has grown considerably; I have raised the school-leaving age, which the Labor government has been delaying; The number of pupils in primary schools has decreased; qualified teachers have increased; students in higher education have increased.But when I was in the Ministry of Education, I spent most of my time arguing about educational structure and funding issues, and less time on dealing with the key issue of educational content.

Likewise, by the time of the general election it was clear that the numbers put forth by the Expanded Platform and – more fundamentally – its ideas had been evaded by events.Plans for universal early childhood education are unattainable.Leaky classrooms will have to make do for a few more years until student numbers dwindle and some schools close to better use financial resources.The principle set out in the Robbins report—"All persons of qualified ability and attainment should have the opportunity to study the courses of higher education" (paragraph 31)—can only be subjected to fiscal austerity.

But as frustrating as it was to see cuts to my cherished plans, I now understand that it was inevitable.And it may have had a by-product of forcing us to think creatively about how to achieve the best results with limited financial resources.On the economic front, the crisis of 1973-1976 led to deep doubts about the value of the Keynesian theory of expanding demand and a renewed interest in classical liberal economic theories such as balanced budgets, lower taxes, and free markets.In much the same way, in education, and in other areas of social policy, people's eyes have been opened to the realization that more government spending is not the answer.Fundamental questions are beginning to be asked: Can the current form of the education system deliver the desired outcomes?Is the form basically beneficial to those who administer it, or to those who accept it?Is the state – whether it is the Ministry of Education and Science or the local education authorities – doing too much, or too little?What can we learn from the results—often excellent results—of other countries' education systems and approaches?There must be reflection on these policies; and we will have sufficient time to do so before long.