MP, Labour’s Shadow
Education Secretary, commenting on ’ speech to Conservative Party
Conference, said:
“ had the chance to show that he
had listened to parents, pupils and teachers but instead he has
buried his head in the sand.
“He once said that education was a ‘special case’ for new
investment, yet today’s recycled announcements contained no new
funding for schools and did nothing to reverse the damage done by
years of Tory austerity.
“In a desperate attempt to spin their way out of a crisis of
their own making, Ministers have once again been reduced to
repeating utterly discredited statistics in the face of
independent advice. If they really want excellence in maths, they
could start by making sure their own numbers add up.
“Their funding for T-levels is a drop in the ocean compared to
the cuts that colleges have faced, and their boasts about school
sports stand in stark contrast to their broken promise to protect
the healthy pupils fund, which has now been cut by three
quarters.
“The next Labour government will invest in our schools and
colleges and build a National Education Service to give everyone
the best possible start in life.”
Ends
Notes to editors
-
· According
to the IFS, Further Education has been a “big loser” from
education spending changes and since 2010:
- Adult skills funding is down
by £1.6 billion (from £3.9 billion in 2010/11 to £2.3 billion in
2017/18)
- Further education spending
for 16-18 year olds is down by £1 billion, from £4.5 billion to
£3.5 billion;
- School sixth form spending
is down by about £500 million from £2.7 billion to £2.24 billion
https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/comms/R150.pdf
- · The
Maths Centres for excellence is part of the £40 million announced
in the 2017 Autumn Budget.
