Education funding cuts will still be coming to Devon despite promises made by the government; this is the message that schools in the South West are sending. The message came from a letter from Kenny Duncan, the Kingsbridge Community College principal. The letter was sent to carers of schools in Education South West and also to parents.
The letter starts by explaining that the principal felt it necessary to once again get in touch with them following the results of the elections held on June 8.
According to the letter, the £4 billion that was promised for schools over the next five years in the manifesto of the Conservative government wasn’t enough according to analysis carried out by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies. The institute’s study apparently took into account the rising number of students and also inflation and calculated that £4 billion wasn’t enough and would still require that 2.8% less was spent per student between 2016 and 2022 and this was a significant amount of money.
According to the letter, 45% of the 750 head teachers involved in a recent interview confirmed that at least two teaching posts will be cut from September of this year. 92% of them said that the funding the school was receiving was either at crisis point or inadequate. 90% of them also complained that recruitment had become very challenging or difficult. The letter was stating that because of these factors, it was important for the government to respond to a situation that was turning into a crisis in many schools.
The letter, however, noted that since the election the prime minister had admitted to being aware of the problem in the sector and the need for the concerns to be addressed. The letter states that only proper investment could help the schools to function as they should and this meant more capital or buildings. He also added that the government shouldn’t take advantage of stealth taxes and hidden costs to give schools more money and then take it back.
In the letter the principal states that he and his colleagues from 17 other counties in the region are working to ensure that every school receives funding that’s fair and adequate and to this effect they were going to present their issue to the local Members of Parliament in the strongest possible way and will also ask parents and guardians to campaign strongly for schools to get the money they need.