NUT: School place shortages report is “damning”
Commenting on today’s report by the National Audit Office (NAO) which warns that more than a quarter of a million new school places are needed by 2014, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:
“This damning report makes clear that the Department for Education has not kept its eye on the ball. They have badly under-estimated the cost of delivering new places, a problem which has grown rapidly on their watch. This has not been helped by the 60% real terms cut to capital funding announced by the Government in 2010.
“The report highlights the problems for local authorities in planning new places. This is a direct consequence of the Government’s wasteful academies and free schools policy which has fragmented the system. The NUT’s long-held view that free schools are not really about meeting local demand is borne out by the NAO, who state that only a third of free school places are in primary schools. Shortages can only be addressed to any serious degree by empowering local authorities to build and expand schools which meet actual need.
“The surge in pupil numbers, following the biggest ten-year increase in the birth rate since the 1950s, creates significant new demands for investment in education just to maintain existing class size levels. We need investment in school buildings, but we also need to attract many more graduates into the teaching profession. Instead we have a government that has cut capital investment and is attacking teachers.”
END pr40-2013
For further information contact Caroline Cowie on 0207 380 4706 or 07879480061
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