Press Release

EMBARGO; 1130 am

Tuesday 14 October 2003

Government funding claims do not match reality or “If I ran this school as Tony Blair runs education, we would be in special measures.”

Commenting on the report “The reality of staffing in our schools” * published by the National Union of Teachers today, Tuesday 14 October, Doug McAvoy, NUT General Secretary, said:

“This report paints a frightening picture of the damage the Government’s failure to fund schools properly this year is doing to the quality of education. The picture it paints is merely the tip of the iceberg. Huge numbers of schools face more redundancies next year and deeper cuts in their budgets with no reserves to turn to for help.

“The report shows the reality of what the Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, calls a ‘mistake’. That mistake is resulting in job losses, larger classes, subjects wiped off the timetable, teachers taking subjects they are not qualified to teach, improvement plans shelved, and new developments put on hold.

“The Chancellor increased funding. Charles Clarke failed to ensure it was enough to cover the additional costs placed on schools. The Government has the money and the power to rectify that ‘mistake’ but instead it sits on its hands and allows our children’s education to suffer.

“Primary schools are particularly badly hit. They do not have the flexibility in staffing and resources to enable them to cope. For example, they cannot reduce planning and preparation time their teachers rarely get it. Their budgets cannot cope with cuts and particularly not of the magnitude they faced this year and will face for the next two years.

“The Government must look again at how it funds schools. Its planned ‘fair funding’ system is not the answer without major modification. It will only perpetuate existing disparities unless a deliberate decision is taken to iron these out before introducing its guaranteed minimum funding per pupil.

“The welcome decision to give all teachers 10 per cent planning, preparation and marking time is not yet backed by funds. This could lead to primary schools having to shed even more teachers. Currently these schools have a third fewer teachers relative to the number of pupils than secondary schools. Indeed, only in Turkey, Mexico and Korea are primary schools worse off.

“In seven years, primary rolls will have fallen by 7.3 per cent and secondary by 4.8 per cent. Maintaining existing pupil teacher ratios would require schools to lose a further 10 per cent of their teaching staff.

“Instead of trying to maintain pupil teacher ratios at current levels, the Government should take the opportunity to improve them. This would of itself help reduce the workload pressures on teachers. It would also guarantee that provision of marking and preparation time and limits on cover were not introduced at the expense of the quality of education.

“Simultaneously reducing the workload of teachers and improving the quality of education should be a price worth paying.”

E N D PR77a/03

*Copies of the full report, “The reality of school staffing”, by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson of the Centre for Education and Employment Research, University of Liverpool, are available from the NUT Press Office on request.

For further information contact:

Olive Forsythe
Tel: 020 7380 4706 (office)
Tel: 020 8313 1692 (weekday evenings)

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Tel: 07879 480061.