New Secretary of State for Education starting role at a 'critical time', say school leaders

Commenting as Kit Malthouse is appointed Secretary of State for Education, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: "We welcome Kit Malthouse to the role of Education Secretary.

"He is starting his role at a critical time. School costs have sky-rocketed and staff morale has plummeted. The disadvantage gap is at a 10-year high, whilst recruitment to teacher-training falls towards a 10-year low. To put education back on an even-keel will require sharp-elbows in securing emergency funding from Treasury. But it will also require a willingness to listen to and work with the teaching profession, to achieve our shared goal of improving life-chances for all. Right now, the stakes could not be higher.

"Schools need investment not cuts in order to repair the damage done to pupils by the pandemic. Just like households and businesses, schools have been hit hard by rising costs – in particular energy. Our members are reporting new energy bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds – more than 300% increases in many cases. These and other rising costs were not budgeted for when the government set schools’ funding for the year, and school leaders being forced to make impossible decisions on what to cut in order to keep the lights on. The new Secretary of State’s immediate priority must be to secure financial support for schools before they are forced into making further damaging cuts."