SPOTLIGHT ON: EDUCATION

SPOTLIGHT ON: EDUCATION

Let's have a look at how the candidates shape up on the subject of EDUCATION.

LABOUR
Education remains a top priority for Labour and the success of our effort is really beginning to show in Hartlepool. If we returned to the Tory days of neglect we'd be betraying a new generation.


CONSERVATIVE
It is a scandal that Hartlepool has both high unemployment and a skills shortage whilst we have young people capable of acquiring the skills to do these jobs. We must train our young people for the jobs that exist in the North-East - not push them into a degree for the sake of it.


LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Tony Blair came to power promising his priority would be education, education, education, but for students and teachers the reality has been SATS, targets and stress. We would scrap many of the Government's targets and let teachers get on with the job of teaching.


UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY
Education, education, education. We all remember that Labour promise. What we got is spin, spin, spin. Labour promised not to introduce top up fees, another promise broken. I wound fight to remove unnecessary bureaucracy and the social engineering which denies our children the education they deserve.


RESPECT
We believe in an education system that is comprehensive and which gives each child an equal chance in life, regardless of his or her family circumstances. We need to provide our young people with youth clubs and other recreational provision. We are resolutely opposed to "top-up" fees.


ENGLISH DEMOCRATS
Tony Blair's promise that the heart of his policy would be "education, education, education" has proved largely empty. We want an English parliament to ensure that the curriculum includes equivalent teaching of our culture and history to that which happens in Scottish & Welsh schools.


PHIL BERRIMAN
Bullies and persistently disruptive children should be sent to special schools with teachers capable of controlling them, leaving those who want to teach and learn safely with a chance! Education should be free up to degree level as long as a certain
standard of effort is attained.


RONNIE CARROLL
Too many kids are leaving school not knowing the difference between right and wrong and holding authority in contempt. School children should be financially rewarded for their attendance and good behaviour.


SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY
Public schoolboy Tory Blair and his cabinet all benefited from free university education. We believe that grants should be restored and fees should be abolished. We are also in favour of a return to traditional funding mechanisms and the ending of the private finance initiative.


THE COMMON GOOD PARTY
If as a nation, we were devoted to making the world a fairer place for all, we would gain a national sense of vision. Our youth would see the adult world doing something admirable and would want to be part of it. Apprenticeships would help deliver a skilled workforce within a buoyant economy.


GREEN PARTY
We believe that children should be broadly educated to ensure that they have the ability to make their own, informed decisions about topics. They could also readily adapt to a job change, rather than having your child's education pigeon-holed to fit in with whatever jobs are available locally.


NATIONAL FRONT
Our aim is to give control of schools and what is taught in them, to local people, particularly the parents. Provide free school meals for all. Provide nursery education from the age of three. End University top up fees and make entry to university on merit and not the ability to pay.


FATHERS 4 JUSTICE
100 children per day lose contact with their fathers in the family courts and we wonder why there are problems in our schools. Children who are denied the love of both parents regularly under-perform at school. Give our children a sound foundation then we can build a strong education system.


OFFICIAL MONSTER RAVING LOONY PARTY
Bring back the six R's - reading, writing, arithmetic, rock'n'roll and a wrap across the knuckles. Corporal punishment in school never did me any harm. I'm sure I grew up better for it.