Commenting on Jeremy Hunt’s speech as Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
“Once again, the Chancellor has shown that he does not care about
the crisis that threatens to paralyse education in this country.
“Jeremy Hunt has done nothing to address the funding crisis in
our schools and colleges. He has turned his back on the teacher
and support staff recruitment and retention crisis, the record
class sizes, the decrepit state of our school buildings.
“In October, the Prime Minister said that education was ‘the best
economic policy’ but has not put his money where his mouth is.
says he wants a ‘high skills,
high wage’ economy, but has failed to invest more in education to
deliver what he says the country needs.
“The inescapable fact is that 70% of schools have less funding in
real terms than in 2010. And today, Jeremy Hunt’s message is that
he wants them to just keep doing more and more with less and
less. And it’s just not sustainable.
“Even after the investment of £105 million for special free
schools, the Chancellor plans to cut capital investment in
education by more than 10% in cash terms next year – down from £7
billion pounds to £6.2 billion pounds.
“We are seeing major real terms cuts in school and college
funding. There are huge pay cuts against inflation for teachers
and support staff, leading to an exodus from the profession.
Workload is sky-high and many schools are in deficit, with class
sizes at record levels and a crisis in SEND funding. The
underfunding of education has created huge recruitment and
retention problems, with teacher recruitment targets missed by
huge amounts and widespread teacher shortages.
“While Government ministers spout platitudes about excellence and
saying she is doing a
‘f****** good job’, our schools and colleges have to deal with
the consequences and so do the nation’s children.
“This Government has no strategy to solve the problems in our
schools and colleges or close the disadvantage gap for pupils.
Child poverty has grown on their watch.
“This is the desperate last hurrah of a Government seeking to buy
votes before a General Election with tax cuts and perks for their
friends, rather than doing what is right for our children.
Anything less than serious additional investment in schools and
colleges is a betrayal of parents and young people as well as of
educators.
“The NEU's preliminary ballot of teacher members in England has
opened. It calls for a fully funded above-inflation pay increase,
as well as funding to pay for additional staffing - and asks if
members are willing to take industrial action with that aim in
mind. Strike action is the last thing our members want but we
can’t stand by while education is destroyed by a Government that
doesn’t seem to give a damn.”
ENDS
