THE SUMS JUST DON’T ADD UP
Parent’s question for Education Secretary
I’VE GOT a conundrum for the Secretary of State for Education. Our local council in Barnsley says that a new secondary school will be required for the town centre in the next few years.
This is in addition to further educational provision required elsewhere in the borough, particularly in rural areas to the west where schools are already over-subscribed and new housing developments underway. Barnsley is by no means unusual in our region.
There are countless towns, cities and villages without enough school places. And now unions say that Yorkshire schools are to face losing 8,000 teachers under the new education “funding formula”. This will see our regional budget cut by £312m. That’s more than £400 per pupil. What does Secretary of State Justine Greening propose to do? If we’re about to shed thousands of teachers and funding is being reduced, where is the money for new schools to come from?
Oh, do forgive me. I forgot. The Government is on a mission to bring back grammar schools and that’s where all the money is going. Sorry if this sounds like a crude analysis, but that’s what it looks like to this particular parent.
I simply don’t understand why a group of people – Government Ministers – who are supposed to be intelligent and wellinformed, cannot see the folly of this. Put simply, how can educational standards improve overall if there is less money available to teach our children? Surely it is the right of every child to receive the best education possible?
In our region in particular, it is in the interests of everyone that standards are raised across the board; a well-educated population is better able to contribute towards economic development and to ending the benefits culture which corrodes our communities.
This is where the Government is missing the point. Where is the sense in pushing educational opportunities for the very bright while leaving millions of other youngsters behind? This focus on bringing forth the next generation of grammar schools is vain and misguided.
We should be looking forward, not turning back the clock. We no longer live in a country dominated by heavy industry and manufacturing, which needed a steady influx of youthful labour.
What plans does the Government have for those countless youngsters not destined for academic hot-housing, followed by university and a stellar professional career? It is absolute madness to both ignore their prospects and, at the same time, pull funding from the schools that they attend.
I find it hugely ironic that Ms Greening was born in Rotherham, a town at the very heart of our post-industrial region. Yet she now represents the suburban London constituency of Putney, in West London, where excellent education choices have come as standard for generations. Has she really forgotten what it was like to grow up in Yorkshire?
Surely she can remember her days at Oakwood High School? She knows at first-hand the relationship between education and aspiration in our region. A good school can give young people the confidence they need to succeed in the outside world. A struggling, underfunded school is in danger of dashing hopes before they even flower.
I’m around the same age as Ms Greening. When I meet up with old school friends, it strikes me now just what we were all capable of achieving.
These girls who left school without an O-level between them are accountants now, senior managers, staff nurses and, yes, teachers. The ability and potential was there, but it was never realised.
We all want better for our children and grandchildren. In this respect, things have improved in education, but not enough: teachers are committed and professional, standards are constantly assessed. Yet Yorkshire’s attainment levels still fall behind the rest of England and Wales. The last thing our schools need are yet more obstacles in their path.
I complain about Barnsley. But in big cities such as Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield, the prospects for pupils are much worse. Urban schools are under pressure as never before, with rising pupil numbers, overcrowded school buildings falling into disrepair and a growing number of children with special needs and English as a second language demanding extra care.
The situation in Bradford – consistently one of the worst-performing areas in Yorkshire school league tables – is so bad that even the local Conservative MP Philip Davies argues that the new funding formula is “bizarre” and “unjustifiable”. He is adamant that he’s not the only politician on the Conservative benches to have to come to this conclusion.
When a party’s own MPs can see the folly of a plan that puts the future of millions of children in jeopardy, why can’t the Secretary of State for Education? We talk a lot about qualifications, but is she really qualified for this vital role in government if she has nothing to say on the matter? It’s time she explained herself.
Our children only get one chance at education. Is it really beyond the Government to learn this lesson?
A good school can give young people the confidence they need to succeed. A struggling, under-funded school is in danger of dashing hopes before they even flower.