Peterborough teaching rep says review of education funding needed urgently
School's are needing donations to cover things like staff costs, building repairs and extra-curricular activities
Last updated 30th Apr 2024
A teaching union rep in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is telling us this Government, and the next, must review how much money is going to schools and how it's being spent.
It comes after the National Association of Head Teachers found that a majority of school leaders are relying on fundraising and donations to plug funding gaps for classroom essentials.
"You've got buildings falling down and budgets being cut"
Mark Burns is from the NASUWT:
"There are many schools that are having to lay off staff, there are some who are trying to hire less qualified because they are cheaper. That's just on the labour side of things, elsewhere you've got buildings falling down and budgets being cut.
"The private schools can still manage to have a-level classes of 3 to 5. But next year we are looking at A-level classes of 20 plus. We just cannot give the same level of education to our kids.
The main findings:
A poll, of more than 1,000 members of the school leaders' union NAHT in England between April 10 and 23, found only 1% said they currently receive enough funding to fully meet the needs of all their pupils.
More than half (53%) of school leaders surveyed said they have had to generate additional income to cover costs of classroom materials, and nearly a quarter (24%) had to do this to cover staffing costs.
More than two in three (71%) needed to do so to fund play equipment and extra-curricular activities (69%), while nearly two in five (37%) had to raise funds to cover estate management and building repairs, the poll found.
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The Government say they're putting over £60 billion into schools across this year and next. Which they say is up by 3 billion on the last budget for schools