“Compared to overall Government expenditure, removing the two-child limit costs very little & will lift hundreds of thousands out of poverty at a stroke.”
By Daniel Kebede, National Education Union General Secretary
Education needs to be one of the main priorities for the new Government. Fourteen years of neglect by the Conservatives has left its mark on our education system, with a profession that is demoralised, overworked and underpaid and a school and college funding crisis that threatens the provision and breadth of the education children and young people deserve.
In their first few days in office, Labour’s new administration struck the right tone by accepting the School Teachers Review Body recommendations for a funded 5.5% pay rise. This acknowledgement that teacher pay has lost significant value in real terms since 2010 is welcome, but more will need to be done if salaries are to recoup their value and begin to address the widespread recruitment and retention crisis. The National Education Union (NEU) views this pay deal as part of a campaign for a long-term correction on pay, one that we will continue to fight for.
Similarly, the Government has already made some welcome progress in removing single-word headline judgements from Ofsted inspections. It is a step forward, but a small one. Ofsted is broken and we need to see it replaced urgently by a system of inspection which is supportive, effective and fair.
Another positive sign is the Government’s promise to review the curriculum. Making it more modern, engaging, inclusive and fit for the future, whilst ensuring that all students have access to the full breadth of subjects, is absolutely crucial. The review is a chance to change this and to fix an assessment system in England that is fundamentally broken. It will only be able to do so if it learns the lessons of previous failed reforms and works collaboratively with the profession in implementing any changes.
While the Government is making some improvements there is still a long way to go.
Our education system is hanging on by a thread. We have heard the warnings from the both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister that the upcoming budget is going to be ‘painful’. But the simple truth is that the last 14 years have been immeasurably painful for our schools, with long-lasting effects on our children and young people. We must change course from an austerity agenda that continually underfunds education.
While much has been made of the ‘black hole’ left in the country’s finance by the previous Government, the case remains that school and college funding is now at breaking point. Seventy per cent of schools in England now have less funding in real terms than in 2010.
It is simple: less money means fewer resources. Rachel Reeves must be bold and address this in the Autumn Budget. She cannot afford not to.
Headteachers have been left with the impossible of job of making ends meet after over a decade of underfunding. Local authority support systems have all but vanished as they themselves struggle to balance the books.
Children and young people’s problems do not start and finish at the end of a school day: every teacher knows this, as does every head and every parent.
Family support and child mental heath services have been decimated. School funding cuts have resulted in the loss of SEND support and pastoral care within the school. For most parts of the country CAMHS waiting lists are so long as to make them completely out of reach.
While leadership in schools do all they can to support and advise those students in need of help, they are teachers not social health and care professionals.
The previous government’s approach to school buildings was totally inadequate. At their pace, it would take 400 years to renovate every school in England. Unless urgent funding is made available to carry out necessary repairs, children’s wellbeing and educational experience will suffer.
Child poverty remains a blight on this country, and it is time for a total rethink of how we support disadvantaged students. Compared to overall Government expenditure, removing the two-child limit costs very little and will lift hundreds of thousands out of poverty at a stroke. Introducing universal breakfast clubs is a step forward, but the aim should be free school meals for all pupils, which would result in a net benefit to the economy.
The current state of arts education is yet another sign of what has gone wrong with our education system. The arts are essential to human fulfilment; they are meaning-making activities which have a personal, social and economic value. But in education, what is recognised in principle is often denied in practice. We need to see an attitude shift in the value placed on encouraging creativity in young people, and valuing the creative industries that many will seek to join.
So, Labour must be in no doubt changes need to be made to the curriculum and examination system; schools need funding that ensures they can offer a full range of subjects and are able to employ the teachers and support staff they need. Local authority funding of social and family services needs to be restored.
This is not an idle wish list. Investment in education is a gateway to opportunity and hope. It is essential for the economy, for society and for the children and young people who have been so sorely let down by previous governments.
And our children urgently need it now.
- Daniel Kebede is the General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU).
- You can follow Daniel on Twitter/X here; and follow the NEU on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
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