Blair Attempts to Promote His Success in Education Reform

Blair claimed that Labour's multi-billion pound programme to renovate England's classrooms illustrated how he had lived up to his now famous promise to prioritise "education, education, and education".

A survey of local authorities in England found that since 1997 there have been 1,106 new schools, 27,000 new or improved classrooms and 2,300 new or refurbished school kitchens built. In the 450 most recently built schools, new indoor toilets had been provided, so no children have to use outside loos any more, the report said. It also said that sports facilities had been improved or provided for the first time in 2,450 schools in England.

In his introduction to the report, Mr Blair said: "The programme of renewal is truly historic. It compares to the legacy of the Victorians and the post-war generation. Generations of young people will benefit. Twenty years of under-investment is being steadily reversed."
He continued: "Before 1997, schools and colleges suffered decades of under-investment. Buildings were decaying. Thousands of young people endured shabby facilities, temporary classrooms, leaking roofs or outside toilets. "New buildings were desperately needed, but the funding simply wasn't there."

"Education, education, education was how I described my priorities at the outset of this Government," Mr Blair said. "A decade on, this report shows we meant it".

It is progress to renovate and built new facilities for students however, the current problem does not lie with the facilities, but rather with the education they receive inside them.

There was no improvement in education in 2005. This is from the Telegraph 17/05/2005 "The number of failing secondary schools has gone up despite the Government's focus on improving standards through the "reform" of comprehensive education." Today there is still no improvement. This from The telegraph 09/05/07 "Last year, one in 10 pupils - 75,000 - failed to obtain five GCSEs of whatever grade. That figure has remained the same since 1999. Of these, 26,000 pupils fail to achieve a single GCSE."

The measure of Mr. Blair's success is dependent on whether you place a greater value on the buildings in which students attend school or the level of education achieved within them.