Commenting on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Geoff Barton,
General Secretary of the Association of School and College
Leaders, said:
“Today’s announcement sounds like positive news for education,
and suggests the voice of school leaders, parents and communities
about the desperate state of education funding has cut through
and been listened to by the government.
“However, the devil tends to be in the detail and we’ll be
closely looking at the figures to fully understand the
implications. In particular, we’ll be looking at where this
leaves special educational needs and post-16 provision which are
both facing extraordinarily difficult financial circumstances.
“We recognise this commitment to education is made in the context
of a bleak economic picture but to put it into perspective this
comes after a decade of real-terms cuts to schools and colleges.
“If we are to ever achieve the long-term national economic
stability and growth which everyone wants then we have to develop
a plan which has more investment in education at its heart
because this is crucial to ensure we have a workforce with the
skills and knowledge to deliver that goal.
“It is also important to remember that besides funding, the
education sector is facing a teacher recruitment and retention
crisis which is largely caused by the erosion of the real value
of teachers’ pay since 2010.
“This also has to be addressed as no aspiration or target for
education is achievable if you cannot put teachers in front of
classes.”
