Under-performing schools in Birmingham must improve if young people are to get new jobs created as the country moves out of recession, city council leader Mike Whitby has warned.
In a tough message that will be seen as a rebuke for education cabinet member Les Lawrence, Coun Whitby hit out at “below par” exam results and said secondary schools had to do better.
Half of school leavers in Birmingham fail to get five GCSE A*-C grades in mainstream subjects including English and Maths.
Coun Whitby (Con Harborne) said this meant that employers were forced to recruit better qualified staff from outside of the city.
He added: “We are still under-performing when it comes to those people who don’t have good qualifications. We have to address this.
“We need an education system where people can write a few sentences and turn up at nine in the morning.”
The Tory council leader has ordered a big push towards meeting Government plans to turn schools into academies – where they are independently run and free from council control.
But academies have been criticised by Coun Lawrence (Con Northfield), who is the cabinet member for education.
Coun Whitby said: “The cabinet member has been clearly told. No one must hinder the council’s policy to encourage academies.
“If there is any evidence that this is happening, I will override it and drive through academies.
“Industry and commerce are telling us that they will have to employ people from elsewhere if they can’t find suitably qualified people in Birmingham.”
The remarks were made at a meeting of the main council scrutiny committee, where Coun Whitby was being quizzed about the council’s performance.
Labour councillors warned that new jobs about to be created, including 600 at the Solicitors Regulation Authority and 1,000 at the New Street Station John Lewis Store, would be beyond school leavers from socially deprived parts of Birmingham where exam results are the poorest.
