Commenting on claims made by Government in documents released
supporting the Queen’s Speech, Dr Mary Bousted,
Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union,
said:
“Government cannot keep repeating fantasy figures in the hope
they will come true. It is simply not the case that £14.4bn is
going into education. No one takes this figure seriously. By
2022/23 funding will be only £7.1bn higher, which is less than
half of what this Government promises.
“Even then, it is not going to solve the funding crisis. The
pledges in the Spending Review and today’s Queen’s Speech fall
well short of what schools and colleges need. Today, the School
Cuts coalition launched a new interactive map based on the data
released by Government on Friday. (1) Far from “levelling up”,
this new analysis shows unambiguously that 83% of schools – some
16,523 in all – will be worse off next year than they were in
2015. The average cut per pupil is £245 for a primary pupil, and
£304 for a secondary pupil.
“This is a far cry from being good news for schools. And the
Government’s claim that Post-16 education will have the highest
increase is the biggest fib of all. What increase there is starts
from a very low base caused by real-terms funding cuts of over
20% under Conservative rule.
“Gavin Williamson knows he is selling the country a dud. Parents,
teachers and school leaders need solutions based in reality, and
urgently.”
Editor’s Note
(1) https://schoolcuts.org.uk/
