School standards 'to take decade'

David Blunkett was education secretary between 1997 and 2001

It will be another decade before reforms raise standards in England's secondary schools, former education secretary David Blunkett has suggested.

Changes to primary school education saw test results improve sharply in the 1990s but improvements in secondary schools will take longer, he said.

He also said his citizenship lessons were not yet working as intended.

Mr Blunkett made the comments in an interview with his successor, Estelle Morris, for the Teachers' TV channel.

He said: "In 1997 we adopted the phrase 'standards not structures'.

We need to renew our commitment to ensure citizenship is not seen as a diversion or a burden David Blunkett

"The first policy document of the Blair government was the white paper on education, including Sure Start, literacy and numeracy.

"I believe that we did start to change the world but that it will take another decade to achieve at secondary what we achieved at primary."

He also acknowledged that his project to make citizenship lessons a key part of school life - one of Mr Blunkett's key policies during his time as education secretary - had not yet succeeded.

He said: "I believe it is crucial to have citizenship on the menu to prepare youngsters for modern life.

"I don't think we have entirely got it right yet. We need to renew our commitment to ensure citizenship is not seen as a diversion or a burden."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said: "Thousands of secondary school pupils have already benefited from the reforms and investment that this government has made in education - Key Stage, GCSE and A-level results, international comparisons, and Ofsted reports - make this clear.

"Year on year standards are rising."