Heads take money fears to Commons
A GROUP of Gateshead head teachers will be able to put their fears for the future of their schools to Government.
A petition launched by the heads in December, demanding an increase in education funding, will now be debated in the house of Commons.
The petition, which warned schools were being forced to slash teaching staff and support for vulnerable children, gained over 75,000 signatures from across the country in the two months since it was set up.
UK Parliament petitions earn an automatic debate in the house when they hit 100,000 signatures.
And when a spot opened up for a debate on March 4, this fast-growing appeal had the most signatures of all those on the site which hadn’t already been allocated a debate, and so was selected to be put before MPs.
One of the petition writers, Andy Ramanandi, head of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Blaydon, called the debate “great news” and thanked concerned parents who backed the plea.
“We need the government to hear how damaging the cuts to school funding have been,” he said.
“Schools across Gateshead are making very difficult decisions which will impact on the quality of education they can provide. Staff are being made redundant and vacant posts are not being filled.
“Many schools are having to cut back resources and reduce specialism in subjects like music. All of this is bad for children’s education.”
And the head urged parents from across the country to take action on what he said was an urgent issue.
“Now that the government is listening, we need to stress how important funding schools sufficiently is. Parents can help further,” he said.
“We are going to be asking parents to take a little time to contact their MP to let them know how they feel about this matter. If elected officials hear how parents, their constituents feel, then MPs can share parental voices in this important debate.”
The debate will be led by Blaydon MP Liz Twist on March 4.
She said: “Head teachers in Gateshead are deeply concerned that they won’t be able to provide the same highquality education if real-terms funding cuts continue.
“I am pleased to lead this debate on behalf of our local school leaders who have already received over 70,000 signatures in support of their campaign. I hope to see a good turn out from MPs on 4 March to debate this vital issue.”
A Department for Education spokesperson insisted “more money than ever before” was going into schools, but that Government recognised that schools faced “budgeting challenges” and were being asked to “do more”.
■ To view or sign the petition, visit https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/232220.
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