Today, (Wed 8 Sept) school leaders met with MPs across the
political spectrum to demand greater levels of additional funding
for education.
At an event in Westminster, school leaders shared direct examples
of the ways they are being forced to reduce support for pupils
because of a lack of proper investment stretching back more than
a decade.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, which represents
leaders in the majority of schools, said: “The government’s
failure to invest in schools is harming the chances of young
people. Every area of public services requires additional
government money to cope with the impact of the pandemic and to
guarantee a successful recovery. The education sector is no
different, but our research shows that almost a third of school
leaders are being forced to make cuts in 2020/21.”
Also speaking at the event was NEU joint general secretary Dr
Mary Bousted, who said: "The forthcoming Comprehensive Spending
Review will be a test of the Prime Minister’s rhetoric earlier
this year about education recovery being ‘the biggest priority’
for his Government. To date Ministers have only allocated a small
fraction of the £15 billion judged to be needed by the
Government’s former education recovery tzar to repair the damage
done to children and young people by the pandemic. If the
Government is serious about making sure no child is left behind
they will show far more urgency and ambition to support and
resource schools with their efforts to deliver education
recovery."
These remarks were backed up by the real life testimonies of
school leaders:
Helen Spearing, head teacher of a primary school in
Staffordshire, said: “We have to restrict the number of
school trips because we can’t subsidise them if parents can’t
afford to contribute. We have had to make the difficult decision
to go through a process to change TA salaries to term time only.
Gavin MacGregor, head teacher of a primary school in
London, said:
“We have had to cut back on our well-being and mental health
support by not renewing our Place2Be counselling service. We have
also had 9 members of support staff leave and have only replaced
2.”
Ruhaina Alford a school leader in Devon said:
"The funding crisis results in a Hobson's choice for heads: which
of the most essential resources will children have and which will
they have to do without? You would expect an essential like
reading books to be provided by the school. But no - to afford
these, parents and the local community have to constantly
fundraise. So, although parents are sending their children to a
state maintained school, they are still footing the bill. Is this
fair?”
The Westminster event took place as NAHT published its latest
report into school finances across England.
The report found that:
- One in four (26 per cent) school leaders predict a deficit
budget in 2021/22 based on current funding levels.
- Almost all school leaders (95 per cent) reported that top-up
funding for pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans
was insufficient.
- As a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, school
leaders reported average additional costs (such as enhanced
cleaning and safety measures) of £24,571.
Schools also reported average lost income (for example, rental
or lettings of facilities) of £21,867.
NAHT’s findings come as the Institute for Fiscal Studies reported
that school spending per pupil in England fell by 9% in real
terms between 2009-10 and 2019-20, which is the largest cut in
over 40 years. Almost three-quarters (73%) of schools still have
lower per pupil funding in real terms than they did in 2015.
Current ‘recovery’ spending in England amounts to around £310 per
child according to the Education
Policy Institute compared to £1800 in the USA and £2100 in
the Netherlands.
