Budget Cuts Hitting Teachers
Proposed budget cuts in English schools and colleges have been met with stern opposition in teaching unions and associations. A great many people are angry with the government’s approach and have proposed strike action in retaliation.
The move came after an increased amount of young people applied for higher education and caught the government of guard. Rather than celebrate the increasing desire of students to stay on a school or college, Labour have announced that there will be a £200m shortfall in funding this year. This will likely put the future of as many as 50,000 young adults in jeopardy, lead to a decrease for school bursaries, and will mean that many will have to look for paid work instead. This is what most in the industry are really concerned about, especially given the current poor employment situation.
The National Union of Teachers have lashed out at the news of the drop in funding, stating that it is “utterly disgraceful”. They argue that this shows a complete lack of responsibility and will likely cause a ‘lost generation’ yet again, as was seen in the school leavers in the 1980’s. “This would not happen in independent or scholarships private schools and should not happen in the state system” they said. The cut was caused by an inaccurate estimation on the number of students who would apply for colleges, sixth forms or pay-in-training courses. Educational facilities have thus received an average of 4% less funding this year and will have to bridge this gap by dropping some courses and possibly teaching jobs. This issue was raised in the annual NUT conference in Cardiff where many lobbied for strikes to take place at the effected educational institutions
A clear acknowledgement of the problem has been made by Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, who has said schools face a dilemma about whether or not they can fund college students this year. He claims that the cause for the rise in higher education program applications is down to the poor job market putting people off entering work. He has made the point that due to the recession, their are not as many job opportunities out their for school leavers and so many are deciding to stay on
