12 October 2007
Teaching professionals warned that the education settlement is unlikely to be enough to meet the demands the government is placing on schools.
Although enjoying a more generous settlement than many other departments – total education spend is to rise by an average 2.8% a year in real terms over the next three years – school leaders and teaching unions warned that funding would be tight and was unlikely to be sufficient to meet new targets.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: 'Education ministers will have to put a stop to the torrent of initiatives that we have had in recent years, so that schools can use their funding on the core business of teaching and learning.'
He added that there were concerns about the allocation of funds to meet the costs of new vocational diplomas. 'Starting a new curriculum is always costly in the first few years… especially when the take-up is very patchy as it will inevitably be with the diplomas.'
Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers told Public Finance that the reduced rate on spending increase was going to create problems in terms of closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.
The target, which makes up one of the 30 new Public Service Agreements was very welcome but required 'a much more radical policy change and spending development that the government seems to have understood', he said.
Johnson added that the two education-focused PSAs – to raise overall attainment levels and close the attainment gap – could work against each other as efforts to raise standards helped the brightest children and left struggling pupils even further behind.
He said: '[Schools minister] Jim Knight himself said at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference a fortnight ago that every policy or innovation designed to raise attainment has increased the attainment gap.'
The National Union of Teachers said it wanted to see progress on the government's intention to raise per pupil spending to private sector levels as announced by the Chancellor Gordon Brown in the 2006 Budget.
'I want the Chancellor now to announce when he intends to meet the target of raising state education funding to private school level,' NUT general secretary Steve Sinnott said.
Per-pupil funding will have risen to £6,600 by 2010-11, the end of the CSR period, still some way short of the £8,000 that was spent in the private sector in the 2006.
The Treasury also announced a further £250m over three years to fund some of the outcomes of the Children's Plan, currently being drawn. Children and Schools Secretary Ed Balls said it would be spent on ensuring schoolchildren are ready to learn and can benefit from personal tuition. Further details are expected in November.
An extra £200m in capital investment was also announced to rebuild or refurbish an additional 75 primary schools.
Children and Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: 'Our task in the next decade is for our education system to become world class.'
PFoct2007
