Manchester,
18
December
2017
|
10:15
Europe/London

New board to improve education in Greater Manchester appoints chair

A new board which aims to ensure that Greater Manchester’s children and young people have the best start in life has appointed Mel Ainscow CBE, Emeritus Professor of Education at The University of Manchester, as its independent chair.

The board will focus on improving overall educational performance, breaking the link between deprivation & attainment and ensuring employability by sharing best practice across the ten local authorities in the city region.

A recent research report from The University of Manchester argues that while there is no overall crisis in the quality of provision within Greater Manchester, like England as a whole, it suffers from wide inequalities.These are reflected in gaps between the attainment of students from low income homes and their peers. Furthermore, these gaps widen as students move into and through the secondary sector.

Between 2008 and 2011, Professor Ainscow was Chief Adviser for the Greater Manchester Challenge, which led to significant progress in schools across the city region. The evaluation of that initiative concluded that this progress was a result of the development of partnerships that crossed the borders between local authorities.

Professor Mel Ainscow CBE
We know that there is enormous expertise across Greater Manchester - the task is to make the best use of it to support the progress of every child and young person. The Board gives us a great opportunity to build on the success of the earlier Challenge programme, particularly its strong legacy of partnership working.
Professor Mel Ainscow CBE

The Board will report to Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s Mayor, and the Chief Executives of the ten partner local authorities. Its members will include school leaders, senior local authority officers, and business and university representatives.It will also work in partnership with the Regional Schools Commissioner in order to connect with relevant regional and national developments.

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