Children in plea to MPs for extra funds for schools
SCHOOLCHILDREN ADDRESSED MPs in Westminster to tell them how underfunding is affecting their education.
Parents’ campaign group Save Our Schools UK, in association with other national parent groups, invited MPs from all parties to listen to speeches from students in Westminster Hall.
The Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was one of 44 MPs who have confirmed attendance.
In a statement to MPs, Edie, 12, from Derbyshire, said: “It seems to me that the people in charge in Parliament just don’t care enough about us – if they did then they would give our schools enough money.”
Ahead of the speech, schoolchildren gathered in Parliament Square wearing T-shirts emblazoned with statistics about underfunding.
The students, from across England, sang songs appealing to the Government for more funds. They laid out paperweights they had designed, which they intend to give to MPs after their speeches, spelling out “SOS”.
Michael, 10, from Greenwich, said in his pre-prepared speech that children are being let down by the Government. He said: “I have special educational needs and I am being failed now in my education because there is not enough money available to spend on children like me.
“Kids like me are the future of this country, what kind of future are we going to have without being able to have a proper education?”
The Save our Schools campaign is part of a parent-led movement demanding extra funding. Alison Ali, co-founder of Save Our Schools, said parents had become “tired” of being ignored by the Government. She said: “We have had absolute stonewall silence from the treasury and we have an endless stream of misinformation from the Department for Education. We’re not interested in propaganda wars, we’re here to have the truth heard about what we see with our own eyes and what our children see with their own eyes happening in our schools.”
She said the children are telling MPs “emotive and true stories that need to be heard”. Layla Moran, the spokesperson for education for the Liberal Democrats and one of the MPs in attendance, said: “It’s sad now that the kids are involved because it means they can see it.”