Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
£400million? Schools need ‘10 times that’
Education chiefs on Budget cash
HEADTEACHERS have hit back at Philip Hammond’s schools cash pledge, insisting they need 10 times his sum to survive.
The Chancellor offered them £400million in his Budget, and sparked fury by saying the shared amount would pay for “little extras”.
Yesterday school leaders and union chiefs told MPS £4billion was urgently needed to keep them afloat.
One headteacher, Jules White, told the Education Select Committee: “I think the announcement by the Chancellor was a very cynical attempt to say we have enough money and all we need is a few extras.” Earlier Mr Hammond said he was “surprised” by the backlash at last week’s pledge. He told MPS: “For most secondary schools, a cheque for £50,000… will be worth having. For anybody who feels it’s not, there will be plenty of schools willing to receive the cheque.” But Kevin Courtney, of the NEU teaching union, said: “The crisis in schools is very real, so the phrase ‘little extras’ is enraging people. And the fact that it is capital spend... when day-to-day spending is leading to that crisis.”
He added: “It’s spectacularly misjudged.” Unions and teachers previously said at least £2billion was needed in additional annual funding.
Yesterday they warned even the £4billion may change. Valentine Mulholland, of NAHT school leaders union, said “a couple of billion” was needed over and above the £2.7billion necessary to reverse realterms cuts.
She said: “We need to be really clear that, to some extent, there’s so much uncertainty about extra costs the Government is going to pile in.”