Commenting on the appointment of as Secretary of State for Education, Dr Mary Bousted,
Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union,
said:
"The NEU congratulates the new Secretary of State for Education
on being appointed to the most important position in the Cabinet.
We hope that shows a passion and an interest in education and
realises the power that valued education professionals have to
transform the lives of young people.
"The Comprehensive Spending Review is in a matter of weeks. The
new Secretary of State must be a strong advocate in Government
for schools and colleges to be given the resources and funding
they need to support education recovery for all children and
young people. There can be no more important priority for the
future of our nation. The money promised to schools to date is a
small fraction of the amount judged to be needed by the
Government’s former education recovery tsar. This must be
rectified in the Spending Review if we are to make sure that no
child is left behind after the pandemic.”
Commenting on the appointment of as the new Secretary of State for Education, Geoff
Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said:
“We welcome to the role of Education Secretary and wish well for
the future. The missteps that have occurred during Mr
Williamson’s tenure are well known and it would be ungracious to
rehearse them again now. For our part we have always sought to
work with Mr Williamson constructively over the course of the
pandemic and we thank him for his engagement with us.
“The Department for Education may now be under new management but
the same challenges remain. More ambition is needed on post-Covid
education recovery, investment in schools and colleges, support
for children with special educational needs, and closing the
attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. The
government must rethink its plan to scrap BTECs and similar
qualifications as this will deprive young people of an
established route to university, apprenticeships and careers. And
it must be open to considering the future shape of qualifications
and the curriculum so that they best serve all young people and
ensure the country has the right skills for the future.
“What our members need from the new Education Secretary is a
greater sense of strategy and support than has been the case in
the past so that we can together provide children and young
people with the very best start in life. We look forward to
working with him and taking the next step forward in an education
system of which we are hugely proud.”
