The Departure of Morris (Education Minister) will be seen by many as a defeat for Blairism as it brings to light the endless manoeuvres by the state at deregulating the public education sector in light of WTO's demands to abolish public education as we know it.

Blair has now been in power for around five years and he has gone furthest in deregulating the Education sector than most other political leaders. Over 25% of teachers are now agency employees, with all its implication (no rights, no pensions etc), College lecturers having seen their conditions erode by increasing workload are now paid less than teachers, universities have seen tenure almost abolished and the US system of part time pay which is no more than private tuition...

The continuous changes, the overextended examinations each year around 24million on the last count, the fact that markers cannot be found on abject minimum pay has meant that one disaster after another is occurring in the new era of deregulation. Scripts aren't marked or if they are marked aren't marked properly.

The fundamental cause of all these problems are political objectives. Blair has stated some, others are hidden from the public agenda:
How do we get all young people off the unemployment register? Put 50% of them through education. How? Employ less teachers, increase their workload and bring the system into gridlock.
How dow we fund univeristy exapansion? Put all lecturers on hourly rates of pay and from the savings plough them back into the universities. Merge universities. Create mayhem in the higher educational sector and call it expansion and reform.
How do we cut teachers workload? Employ thousands of assistants and give them teachers tasks. How do you get a pilot to fly beyond the legal maximum, ensure cabin crew take over their tasks...
How do you privatise state schools. Make them so bad that no one wants to be there: kids, teachers, assistants. Introduce rote learning in the era of the internet. Introduce the internet without teaching knowledge. Call decline, progress. Call privatisation, reform of the public sector.

In another world, education would be about learning about humanity, about different cultures, about different pasts, about opening peoples minds that another world is possible, without the McDonaldisation of everything. In an era of 'reform' stupidity has become a virtue. It has become a profession. Politicians, economists, psychologists, sociologists, intellectuals and others use the profession of stupidity to get closer to the centres of power. they shake their asses when the bosses demand 'services' from them. Morris is no exception to the above, just a personification of it. They do say that shit flows to the surface and it certainly has here.

An education system that resembles the anarchy of the capitalist system itself. Too many squares to be circled and too many clowns required to run the Education Ministry. Blairs musical chairs are once again upon us.

When students, teachers, parents realise that the education system is not for sale or further deregulation, when humans are treated differently than mere objects of consumption, to be uses and abused for the sake of profit, then capitalism would have lost evein its marginal inluence on society.