The NAHT and NEU joint submission to the 2021 spending review
sets out the priorities that Government and the Department of
Education must address as a matter of urgency. The challenges
facing school and colleges are twofold – recovery from the damage
caused to children's education and tackling the legacy of
underfunding since 2010.
has clearly stated his commitment to education
recovery. Fine words must be backed up with concrete proposals
and adequate funding. The Government’s rejection of Sir Kevan
Collins’s proposal (its own recovery Tsar) for recovery funding
of £15 billion for schools and colleges has been a very
disappointing start.
The Government has to tackle its legacy of broader education
underfunding now. Secondary class sizes have risen by eleven per
cent since 2015 and are now at their highest level since records
began in 1978. Primary class sizes are at their highest level
since 2000. Almost a million pupils are taught in classes with
more than thirty pupils.
In 2021-22 education funding for those aged 2-19 needs an
additional £7.3bn in revenue funding and £2.8bn in capital
funding a year merely to restore funding per pupil to 2015
levels.
In 2024-25 assuming If the Government increases education funding
in line with inflation then the funding gap compared to 2015 for
revenue will grow to £12.9bn and the shortfall in capital funding
will grow to £3.1bn.
These figures are only focused on restoration of 2015 funding
levels. In the longer term we need a commitment to increase
investment, including capital investment. Education is an
essential public service. The ability of schools and colleges to
deliver cannot be done on the cheap.
The NEU and NAHT intend to take the Prime Minister at his word.
It is now for the Government to respond to the challenge.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union
NAHT, said: "The government’s failure to invest in
schools is harming the chances of young people. The Prime
Minister must now deliver on his promise that no child will be
left behind due to learning-lost during the pandemic. Schools
need a radically more ambitious package of investment from the
Treasury in order to get the job done.
“But investment is about more than ‘recovery’. There must be more
ambition for our young people than simply restoring budgets to
2015 levels. This and subsequent generations of pupils deserve
better. The government must see education as an investment in
this country's future, not a drain on the nation’s finances. The
Education Secretary must seize the opportunity of the
Comprehensive Spending Review and convince the Chancellor and the
Prime Minister to turn rhetoric into investment.”
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary, NEU,
said: “It’s the moment of truth for the Government. It
can either continue the improvement in education funding started
by the 2019 Spending Round or return to the long days of 2010s
austerity. The Government ultimately must decide what type of
country it wishes us to be – a low-wage, low-skill,
low-investment economy, or a high-investment, high-skill,
high-productivity economy, leading to high wages for its
citizens. Our children deserve a decent future after the chaos of
the past 18 months.”
