Commenting ahead of tomorrow’s Budget Speech in the Commons,
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union, said:
“With public services already stretched and strained under years
of under-investment, the spread of the coronavirus ought to focus
minds at Whitehall. We need to protect the social infrastructure
of this country, not just in the short term. And it is this
measure by which the NEU will judge Rishi Sunak’s first
Budget.
“There are young people now approaching college age who have been
taught entirely under Conservative-led Governments. What they
have experienced in that time are the effects of persistent
underfunding through all stages of learning, and these conditions
remain in spite of all the noise at the last General Election
about ‘levelling up’. The facts make a mockery of this claim.
“The Government’s pledge last year to increase school funding by
£7.1 billion over the next three years was very welcome, but
still fell short of the £12.6 billion we estimate is needed to
replace the cuts made since 2015 let alone provide a world-class
education for every child. 83% of schools are worse off this
April in real terms than in 2015.
Maintained nurseries continue to survive hand to mouth, with many
under threat of closure due to insufficient budgets. And 16-19
education continues to be the most severely affected, which is
why so many of our members in sixth form colleges are on strike
today.
“Schools and colleges continue to fall into disrepair, and at the
present rate it will take several decades to rebuild them all.
This ought to be a central plank of the Green New Deal, to ensure
buildings are more efficient, but it remains a sorry legacy of
the Gove era that regeneration continues to be a low priority of
Government. Their inaction on asbestos is the most grievous
example of all.
“Children with special educational needs and disability (SEND)
are bearing the brunt of austerity. Schools find it impossible to
get the support needed because of ever-expanding waiting lists.
Very clearly demand has far outstripped supply, and it is the
children who suffer. 93% of local authorities have lost out on
SEND funding since 2015 because of Government cuts to special
needs provision. The recent announcement of an additional £780
million for SEND is clearly inadequate in the face of a £1.7
billion shortfall.
“With 4.1 million children and young people now growing up in
poverty, we hope rumours are unfounded that free school meals are
to be reduced. As the recent report of the Institute for Social
and Economic Research shows, the expansion of FSM has already
paid dividends with noticeable downward trends in childhood
obesity. It also makes good sense as an investment, that children
who are healthy and alert will grow in esteem and feel more
engaged in school life.
“We hope the Chancellor pays heed to the headteachers, teachers,
support assistants, parents and governors who see first-hand,
every day, the detrimental impact under-funding of our education
service has on the children and young people they teach or care
for.”
