New research has revealed significant public opposition to Labour's recent decision to scrap the English Baccalaureate, with two thirds of Britons expressing disagreement with the controversial move.
Strong Public Support for Academic Rigour
A comprehensive survey conducted by the More in Common think tank found that 66 percent of British adults believe pupils should continue studying the EBacc, even if this comes at the expense of other subjects. The poll, which interviewed 2,000 adults over the weekend, demonstrates remarkable consistency across political affiliations.
Support for maintaining the EBacc requirement spanned all voter groups, with at least 50 percent backing in every political party. The Liberal Democrats emerged as the most enthusiastic supporters, with 76 percent favouring the retention of the academic qualification framework.
Luke Tryl, executive director of More in Common, commented on the findings: "What's striking about the support for schools keeping the EBacc requirement is that it spans across political divides. While the public wants to ensure children are taught vital life skills, few want changes to the curriculum to come at the expense of traditional subjects."
Curriculum Reform Meets Resistance
The research comes just days after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced the government would mothball the EBacc to encourage greater take-up of creative subjects. The decision prompted immediate accusations of 'dumbing down' from critics across the political spectrum.
Introduced in 2010 under the Conservative government, the EBacc comprises a suite of core GCSE subjects including English, mathematics, sciences, a language, and a humanity. Under previous arrangements, schools received recognition in performance tables for encouraging high participation rates in these academic disciplines.
The polling data suggests the public remains sceptical about shifting the educational balance toward the arts. Nearly half of respondents (46 percent) expressed satisfaction with the current equilibrium between arts, sciences and humanities subjects.
Meanwhile, 30 percent of those surveyed wanted more curriculum time dedicated to sciences and humanities, while a mere 9 percent supported increased focus on arts education.
Limited Backing for Modern Curriculum Additions
Labour's proposals to incorporate contemporary topics into primary education also received mixed responses from the public. The plan to teach children skills such as 'spotting fake news' attracted scepticism when considered alongside traditional learning priorities.
While 81 percent initially supported including such topics, this figure plummeted to just 33 percent when respondents considered whether these additions should come at the expense of fundamental subjects like literacy and numeracy.
The government's wider curriculum reforms, developed following Professor Becky Francis's review, include reducing time spent in GCSE examinations and simplifying primary school grammar lessons. The proposed changes also encompass decolonising the curriculum and enhancing climate change education.
These sweeping reforms, which dismantle several flagship Conservative education policies, have received enthusiastic support from teaching unions. However, they've faced fierce criticism from opposition figures.
Laura Trott, the Shadow Education Secretary, condemned the changes as "education vandalism", while former Tory education minister Sir Nick Gibb described them as a "deeply retrograde step".
A Government spokesman defended the reforms: "From business to the arts to the CEOs of the country's biggest academy trusts, the curriculum review has received overwhelming praise. The EBacc has failed to deliver on its promise of supporting more pupils to take up subjects including languages and has constrained choice for students in subjects that strengthen our economy and our society."
The spokesman added that the new approach would ensure every young person develops a "cast-iron grip on the basics of reading, science and maths" while acquiring essential knowledge and skills for future employment.
