Commenting
on the Chancellor’s
Budget speech, Dr Mary
Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union, said:
“While the Government obviously needs to address the short
term challenge of the coronavirus crisis, it must begin to plan
for the long term as well. This budget does not support a
long term plan for the millions of young people being educated
within a chronically underfunded system.
‘The Government knows that lack of funding is putting
schools and colleges under great pressure. Class sizes are
rising, subjects are being dropped, SEND support is disappearing
and inadequate pay is making the staffing crisis
worse. All of this is happening just to balance the
books.
‘School buildings are badly deteriorating after a decade
with almost no money spent on their fabric. 3,731 schools need
immediate repair and a further 9,872 school need work within two
years at the latest. Spending on school buildings has fallen
dramatically since 2010, it is now 42% lower than under the last
Government. We greatly regret the Government’s neglect.
‘The £7.1 billion already promised for schools over the
next 3 years should have been increased. It is welcome but
it falls well short of the £12.6 billion needed to replace the
cuts since 2015, let alone provide a world-class education for
every child. 83% of schools will be worse off this April in
real terms than in 2015. Maintained nurseries continue to survive
hand to mouth, with many under threat of closure, and 16-19
education continues to be suffer as well. The additional
capital funding for FE colleges is welcome but, with almost 4000
schools in need of immediate repair, we greatly regret the
Government’s neglect of schools capital funding.
‘Missing from the Chancellor’s ‘plan for prosperity’ is any
recognition that 4.1 million children in our
country are currently trapped in poverty. With the Institute for
Fiscal Studies predicting that a further 1.1 million children
will be living in poverty by 2022 it is extremely disappointing
that there has been no indication today of a Government strategy
to end child poverty.
‘The Government has recognised the need for short term
action to support workers and businesses during the coronavirus
crisis. If the Chancellor is to achieve his ambition for a
high skilled workforce he must also recognise the need for long
term investment in the education system and commit to addressing
the underfunding that our education system has faced for far too
long’.
