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What are the general pros and cons of confederation? (19/07/06)
Question: I am a community governor at a rural primary school. What are the general pros and cons of confederation?

Joan Sallis replies: It is only in the most recent Education Acts that confederation has been provided for. Lots of people with long memories associated it with the widespread grouping of schools for governance which was considered a bad feature of the system before it was reformed in the 1980s. There is no evidence that it was reintroduced in this spirit however. What is claimed for it is an opportunity particularly for small and isolated schools to collaborate more closely to overcome their problems and perhaps find joint solutions in collaboration rather than competition. Opponents would say that you don’t need to lose your individuality to establish co-operation and that if schools are small the democratic input in a federation is spread very thinly and accountability less. The only thing I would say is that all concerned need to be very sure how they are going to use their new opportunities before they make up their minds.

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