Candidates for the constituency of Bedford have debated concerns over education and plans to move from a three-tier to two-tier system.

Bedford Borough Council, which has powers over education, has approved plans to change to a two-tier system between September 2013 to September 2015.

This would involve having primary schools and upper schools instead of the current system of primary, middle and high schools.

Labour candidate Patrick Hall said the decision had been made "based on better performance and outcomes with the two-tier system".

"Provided it [the move from three tier to two tier] is carried out properly and properly funded I think it is the right decision - which is supported by a lot of the upper schools and primary schools."

'Schools are critical'

He said the Conservatives had not made any promises about the funding of schools and he feared funding cuts could compromise the move.

Conservative candidate Richard Fuller said he would want to ensure that plans to move from a three-tier to two-tier system of education in Bedford were properly funded.

"I don't want kids walking through a building site because the money was not available. We can't play with kids' education," he said.

He added: "Schools are critical. The Conservative policy is also to enable head teachers to have more control over disruptive pupils."

The Liberal Democrat candidate Henry Vann said: "In Bedford we are underfunded relatively to other areas.

"County towns lose out massively when compared to the investment in education in cities.

"Our proposal is provide £2.5bn of public money, which has to be found from other areas, towards a pupil premium to target disadvantaged children who need more help - through smaller class sizes and support."

The candidates announced for Bedford are:

UK Independence Party: Mark Adkin; Independent: Samrat Bhandari; BNP: William Dewick; Green: Ben Foley; Conservatives: Richard Fuller; Labour: Patrick Hall; Lib Dem: Henry Vann.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version