Commenting on the appointment of
as the Secretary of State for Education,
Kevin Courtney, Joint General
Secretary of the National Education
Union,
said:
"We welcome to his new role as Education Secretary.
'This is one of the most important jobs in Government though you
wouldn’t think so given the way the role has been treated as an
afterthought in recent years. In the past 8 years we have had
nine Education Secretary's.
Children and young people are paying the price for this constant
upheaval and the lack of grip and understanding on the many
issues facing the education service. These include the
chronic underfunding of our schools and the immediate issue of
how schools will weather the cost-of-living crisis and pay their
gas and electricity bills, teacher pay, workload, teacher
recruitment and retention and rising levels of child poverty.
'The Education Secretary cannot ignore the problems. Our current
education system is on its knees despite the huge efforts of
school, leaders, teachers and support staff to plaster over the
cracks. There needs to be a determination from Government to set
them right to ensure every child and young person gets the
education they deserve. The new Secretary of State
will only deliver workable solutions by listening to and working
with the profession, students and parents.
'We look forward to meeting and working with on the now long list of major flaws and issues in
our school and college system".
