Commenting on the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s speech detailing
the Spending Review, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
“As a result of tireless campaigning by the National Education
Union alongside other unions and campaigners, we have won a major
shift in Government policy on school funding. Voters,
however, should not be fooled. Today's funding commitments for
primary and secondary schools, SEND, 16-19 education and teacher
pay go some way towards closing the gap, but are still
significantly short of what is required.
“There are many things wrong with the Government’s announcement:
* We were asking for a £12.6 billion annual increase in school
budgets by 2022/2023. The Government has only pledged £9 billion.
This will not be sufficient to reverse all the cuts to date and
the Government is clearly seeking to favour some schools more
than others.
* They’ve only pledged £400 million for 16-19 education which is
simply not enough. The sector has suffered a 27% real terms cut
since 2010 and needs at least £1.2 billion in funding.
* The announcement of an additional £700 million for SEND is
clearly inadequate in the face of a £1.7 billion shortfall.
* The Government has said it will deliver a minimum of £5,000 per
secondary pupil. This is not guaranteed. Many schools
could well receive less than this.
* £66m for early years funding is wholly inadequate. The
Government needs to invest £300m to restore cuts to early years
provision in order to stop providers having to close down. There
is still no money mentioned for maintained nurseries that face
closure from next August.
“The sums announced today will not reverse all the cuts made to
date. We have seen class sizes rise, teaching assistants sacked,
and teachers having to scrape together resources just to get
by. A generation of pupils have missed the education they
should have received because of austerity. Nothing in today's
spending review will compensate them for this loss.
“Teacher training targets have been missed for six years in a
row. The increases in starting pay now being proposed would only
return it to its 2010 level in real terms. No promises have
been made for more experienced teachers, whose pay has fallen by
around 15% in real terms since 2010.
“England has one of the worst teacher retention rates in the
OECD, with almost half of teachers leaving within 10 years and a
third within 5 years. Retention rates among older teachers are
also getting worse. The NEU wants the government to reinstate
statutory progression pay points, in negotiation with teacher
unions, so that the pay system is transparent, open and fair and
so that proper incentives are put in place for experienced
teachers to stay in teaching.
“Not a single penny has been promised until next April but the
school cuts are happening right now. These announcements do not
go far enough to address the serious issues facing the teaching
profession, schools and colleges. So much damage has been done to
children and young people’s education. The NEU will continue to
campaign to ensure every school and college has the funding and
resources needed to give every child the education they deserve.”
