The crisis in Education

There can be no denying that this generation of children have had an extraordinary experience, and face incredible pressures as they consider their futures.

Not only have they grown up in a global pandemic the likes of which has not been seen since universal secondary education became available, but they have had a year of strikes, and now many discover that school buildings are not just substandard but dangerous.

Most parents, teachers and school governors are familiar with buckets placed for leaky roofs, portacabins whose temporary use become part of the fabric of the school and regular appeals and events to fund basic building maintenance.

Back in the Spring, Liberal Democrats called for extra funding for school buildings after we revealed that £900m had been cut from the school’s maintenance budget, and that 39 schools had closed temporarily or permanently since 2019 due to crumbling concrete roofs. 

Headteachers grapple with budgets that are barely adequate to cover the basics and schools abandon valuable subjects, narrowing children’s learning at the very time that we need to embrace difference and provide young people with the confidence to face an uncertain future.

The school funding formula disadvantages Dorset – across both council areas.  Schools receive far less per pupil than in some parts of the country on the assumption that our levels of poverty are lower, but not recognising that other costs are often higher, and this squeezes the ability of headteachers to give children what they deserve.

The numbers of children needing an Education, Heath and Care Plan (EHCP) to support their Special Educational Needs or Disabilities is rising sharply, but schools simply cannot recruit the additional teaching assistants and specialist services these children and young people need, and if they could, they would be funding them direct from the budget that needs to serve the wider student population.  

Most schools have now taken responsibility for the mental health of their students, employing a counsellor instead of an extra teacher and funding speech and language and other specialists because NHS delays are just too long.

Liberal Democrats believe that education is the best investment we can make in our country’s future. Funding for schools has not kept pace with inflation, when you consider the per-pupil funding and increases in teacher’s pay have been coming directly from school budgets, diverting crucial funds away from teaching and learning.

Liberal Democrats were proud to introduce Pupil Premium when we were in Government so that children who have a more difficult start in life or come from a military background receive additional l funding to provide support.  However, the value of this has been eroded at the precise time more funding is needed, and we are calling on Government to extend the funding to include young people aged 16 to 18.

I look forward to speaking at the forthcoming Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth about the issues facing education and to visiting more schools in the coming months to better understand the detailed support they would want to see from the next Government.