Education, Education, Education

11.00.00pm GMT Mon 23rd Mar 2009

Farid Ahmed, Walthamstow Parliamentary Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats say "Sadly, 1 in 5 kids still leave primary school without reaching the expected level in reading and writing. Children from poor backgrounds still fall behind and often never catch up. More than half of 16 year olds don't get 5 good GCSEs including English and Maths. Labour's top down targets and meddling have made life harder for teachers and children.

Labour are getting the basics wrong. The Liberal Democrats want to change that. New Liberal Democrat plans will cut class sizes for 5-7 year olds to 15. That's the same size as private school levels. In those vital early school years, that will mean more kids get the help they need. It doesn't end there.

The Liberal Democrats will put extra money into every school through the Pupil Premium plan. Standards can be improved in every school. We will never accept that kids from poorer backgrounds can't succeed. Education is about our future. Labour has let us down. The Conservatives have no real ideas of how to help.

Only the Liberal Democrats will deliver for our children."