Commenting on the Chancellor’s Spring
Statement, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the
NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:
“The forthcoming full three-year spending review is needed
urgently to tackle the serious financial pressures affecting
delivery of education and other vital public services for
children and young people.
“The Chancellor’s speech today may provide promises for future
government spending but it provides nothing to meet the pressing
needs of schools today.
“The era of austerity will continue despite the Chancellor’s
statement. Teachers and headteachers will be looking to the
government urgently to address the years of real-terms cuts to
school budgets and the drastic erosion of teachers’ salaries
which has contributed to the current teacher recruitment and
retention crisis.”
Period Poverty
“The NASUWT welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment to fund access
to free sanitary products for pupils in secondary schools from
next year. However, it is vital that this scheme is extended to
cover all primary schools and colleges to ensure that no girl
misses out on her education or has her dignity compromised due to
period poverty.
“The fact that so many families cannot afford sanitary products
for their children is in itself a reflection of the shameful
indictment on the Government’s policies, which have hit the
poorest hardest, and especially children and young
people.
“The Chancellor would do well to poverty impact assess any future
government spending priorities and decisions.”
