The Marketization Of Education: New Labour And Tony Blair

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In 1997 when New Labour and Tony Blair came to power UK teachers were expecting policy to be transformed from the “neo-liberal” approach that had been used by the Conservative party. Thatcher had attempted to create an educational market place using the national curriculum to standardise what was being taught, introducing the publishing of exam results and new City Technology Colleges, triggering schools to compete against each other for ‘consumers’ or parents in order to raise standards across the board. Conversely, although Blair believed that education should be a public service and not completely privatised, he saw the marketization of education as a, “practical way of using the system,” (Ward. S p.23). With Andrew Adonis as his educational