NEU comments on Government's School Funding announcement

Commenting on the Government’s announcement on school funding in 2021, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

“Any Government announcement of additional school funding is welcome. But it is important to be clear that this funding does not even replace the budget cuts made since this Government was elected, originally as part of the coalition in 2010.

"Even the claim that every child will see a funding rise is not true when you take account of inflation; we estimate a third of pupils will see funding in their school fall.

“A million children are in classes of over 30 and we have the biggest primary classes in Europe, the highest in this country for over 15 years. 4,000 schools are in need of immediate repair. Class sizes will continue to rise and school buildings will continue to crumble until the Government takes decisive action instead of a series of underfunded initiatives.”