“You couldn’t make it up!" This is how education policy works, 2018-style

Norwich,where Justine Greening spoke about social mobility this week

As a snapshot of the state of education policymaking in 2018, it may be hard to beat.

This week, the former education secretary Justine Greening was in Norwich promoting what looks a relatively minor scheme to try to improve, in the face of much evidence of it refusing to budge, “social mobility”.

Called the “Social Mobility Pledge,” the idea is, as the Eastern Daily Press put it as it reported Greening’s visit, that “companies pledge to partner with schools and colleges, provide access to apprenticeships and work experience, and use inclusive approaches to recruitment.”

Greening hopes it will link up with her own “opportunity areas” initiative, which she launched when in charge of schools, back in 2016, with Norwich one of the first six areas to benefit.