Academies and free schools

Despite being an ardent proponent of the free market, largely because of my classical liberal principles, there are some things that I believe should still be treated as a public good: one of these is education. In recent years, especially under Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove, reforms have leaned towards privatisation and marketisation, in the form of Academies and Free-Schools. Gove envisioned that these would have far reaching effects beyond the UK and that England’s school leavers would become world-leaders in qualifications, marching up the international comparison tables. He argued that education under New Labour had deteriorated because of dumbing…