Commenting on a poll published by the Sutton Trust which shows
that over a third of heads are using Pupil Premium funds to plug
general gaps in their school budget, Kevin Courtney,
Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union,
said:
"We know school budgets have been hit hard by coronavirus and the
inadequate reimbursement from Government. Schools have had to
spend more on cleaning, heating, supply costs and other Covid
security measures, while income from lettings is down. It is not
remotely surprising that pupil premium funding is being used to
plug shortfalls in general funding this year even more than
previous years.
"Matched to this is a shift in the date of the census from
January 2021 to October 2020, meaning that many disadvantaged
children will miss out on the funding they are entitled to for
their education. must come
clean as to how much schools have lost as a result of his moving
the goalposts.
"The public sector pay freeze in September is clearly intended to
help balance the books - punishing teachers and support staff who
have gone the extra mile during the pandemic.
"As the EPI reported last week, other countries have put much
more significant sums into education recovery – in the US the
equivalent of £1600 per pupil, the Netherlands £2500 and in
England just £250. Without a similar investment plan, children in
England will fall behind and disadvantaged children will fall
behind further."
