Commenting on the ’s manifesto plans for
education, Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association
of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:
“We are pleased the is willing to address the
Government’s school cuts. The current situation is unsustainable.
Pupils are being short-changed by a restricted and narrow
curriculum and parents are seeing expensive free schools opened
in places where they are not needed instead of there being a
place for every pupil in their local school. Only by increasing
per-pupil funding in real terms will these problems even begin to
be addressed. Scrapping the requirement for schools to pay the
apprenticeship levy will help by cutting the costs on schools.
“No-one wins when teachers, support staff and heads face
excessive and unnecessary workload, and schools and colleges
struggle to recruit or retain the staff they need. Lifting the
public sector pay cap and setting up a School Support Staff
Negotiating Body should certainly help with the recruitment and
retention of staff. And the repeal of the Trade Union Act will
help to protect workers’ rights following Brexit.
“But ATL members will be concerned that plans to charge VAT on
independent school fees pose a real risk to the job security of
teachers and support staff. We believe it is important to address
the disadvantage and poverty which can limit educational
attainment but would want to be assured there is strong evidence
to support universal, rather than targeted, free school meals.
“Abandoning plans for baseline assessment will reduce the stress
on the children and teachers in reception. The return of Sure
Start centres in every community will do more to give
disadvantaged children a better start in life and improve social
mobility than the expansion of grammar schools. And making
further education courses free at the point of use and
reintroducing the education maintenance allowance should help to
ensure that we have the skills that we need for the future.
“Effective development and implementation of skills policy will
be essential post-Brexit and we urge all parties to commit to
meaningful engagement with education professionals and learners
throughout this process.”
