Commenting on the passing of motion 35 at the National Education
Union’s Annual Conference, which is being held virtually, Dr Mary
Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union,
said:
“In principle, our government accepts that high-quality early
years education is essential in the fight against educational
disadvantage. In practice, it is a different story.
“The number of maintained nursery schools is falling. Lacking any
long-term funding guarantee and having been declared ineligible
for government financial support for the costs of Covid-19, those
nursery schools that remain open are under extreme financial
pressure. Only 28% expect to balance their budget in the current
financial year.
“These schools are proven centres of excellence, often located in
the most deprived areas of the country and providing skills and
resources which support neighbouring early years settings. It is
essential that these are not lost. Yet a steady and unforgivable
process of amalgamations and closures is leading precisely in
that direction.
“Over the last year, the NEU has worked with the NAHT, Unison and
Early Education in a campaign which has reached literally
millions of people. We have supported the valuable work of the
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nursery Schools, Nursery and
Reception classes. With them, we call on the government to
guarantee that maintained nursery schools will have viable
long-term funding from September 2021.
“The NEU is determined that the early years sector will not be
the poor relation of the education system. If the government
thinks it can quietly preside over the dissolution of the
precious resource that maintained nurseries represent, it is
wrong. Today’s resolution commits the union to redouble our
efforts. Working with a range of organisations, we will step up
our effort to ensure increased funding. We will commit new
resources to supporting and organising our members in maintained
nurseries. We are determined to expose the government’s
lackadaisical neglect of this vital sector.”
