The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today
written to the 11 Conservative MPs who have declared their
intention to stand in the party’s leadership contest to set out
the priorities for education. The letter from ASCL President
Richard Sheriff and ASCL General Secretary Geoff Barton voices
concern that the focus on Brexit has sidelined vital domestic
issues and that significant challenges in the education sector
are being neglected.
The full text of the
letter can be read here.
On school and college funding it says:
“The current level of funding is simply not sufficient to enable
schools and colleges to provide the education to which our
children and young people are entitled. This lack of investment
is woefully short-sighted and is having a devastating impact on
children’s life chances. Standards in education have
unquestionably improved over the past 30 years but this progress
is being put at risk by the austerity agenda.”
On teacher recruitment and retention it says:
“We were pleased to see the teacher recruitment and
retention strategy published recently by the Department
for Education. It is a significant step forward and contains some
good ideas about how to improve the current situation. But the
fact remains that we are already in the midst of a crisis with
severe teacher shortages in many subjects just as the secondary
school population is rising.”
And on the pressure on staff and pupils it says:
“We need to take a step back and imagine what a system would look
like where there is a greater emphasis on supporting schools and
colleges, and less focus on punishing them, and where we tailor
qualifications to suit the aspirations and aptitudes of young
people in the 21st century, instead of forcing
them to negotiate a series of cliff edges in a restrictive diet
of subjects.”
The letter has been sent to the candidates who have so
far confirmed their intention
to stand in the leadership contest: , , , , , , , , , , and .
