In the last 13 years of Tory rule, there have been ten education secretaries. Most of them haven’t lasted a full school year. This says a lot about what the Tories think of education. So, too, does the fact that 65 per cent of the Cabinet went to an independent school, nine times the number of the general population. The Prime Minister himself was educated at £45,936-a-year Winchester College.

Perhaps it is no coincidence, then, that these same people – who are making the decisions about the education delivered to our children – are so out of touch with reality. They are allowing school buildings to crumble, decimating school budgets and failing to address the crisis in teaching. It’s been embarrassing to watch the Prime Minister make ridiculous and empty pledges, such as making maths compulsory to A-level, when headteachers are struggling to recruit teachers, including those who teach maths. At the end of the day, the people who suffer the most from this chaos in government are our children.

MOST READ:

 

Every child deserves the very best start in life and a quality education to achieve and thrive. This shouldn’t come down to luck. Where you are born, the situation you are born into, your parents’ income, should not dictate your chances in life. But unfortunately, inequality is so entrenched in the education system of 2023 Britain, that far too many children are being held back and are not achieving anywhere near their potential.

Today, one in four children in our country live in poverty and over two million pupils are eligible for free school meals. Schools are being asked to do more with less. Years of real-term funding cuts mean that many schools are facing serious budget problems. Teachers are not only stretched to deliver their lessons but are often finding themselves providing wider support to their pupils, making sure children in their classrooms don’t go hungry.

The Labour Party has always understood the importance of education and the link between a child’s start in life and success later on. That is why the last Labour government opened Sure Start centres, made a record investment in our schools and created the best possible environment for learning through the Building Schools for the Future programme.

The next Labour government will reform child care, deliver an Early Years Plan, provide breakfast clubs to start each day, ensure a broad curriculum and the highest standards in schools. Because we know that education is the key to breaking down the barriers that continue to hold people back.

As your Labour council, we are proudly leading the way in making equality a priority in schools in Brighton and Hove. We’re the first council in the country to propose revising the admissions policy in secondary schools so that disadvantaged pupils (those eligible for free school meals) be given higher priority in school admissions. We’ve also introduced a free school meals scheme for children educated outside school.

But our local schools are facing some big challenges. In our city, the birth rate has fallen by 22 per cent which means there are dramatically fewer primary age children attending our schools. This means that several schools are not full. Because schools are funded on a per pupil basis, this means less government funding, leading to staff cuts. All of our children, but particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities, will not get the education they need if this continues. There comes a time when pupil numbers are so low that a school can no longer operate effectively.

Over half of the schools in our city are now in financial deficit. This is not sustainable. The right course of action is to lower the number of places at schools across the city to match the reality, so there are fewer empty desks. Classes will have the correct number of children and this will help schools with their funding difficulties. This is not a situation that has just occurred and it should have been addressed some time ago, which is why it is frankly absurd that the Greens are now opposing these proposals. The Greens who led the council until six months ago were aware then of the consequences of falling pupil numbers but they did nothing.

We fully recognise and understand the huge pressures headteachers, teachers and support staff face every day and as a council we support them as much as we possibly can. We must act now and be brave and realistic enough to take these extremely tough and painful decisions. They will help keep our local school system healthy and make sure every city child receives a quality education.

  • Bella Sankey is Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council