Fresh approach to education funding needed from Sunak

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, has said that the new prime minister Rishi Sunak needs to look with fresh eyes at the education sector and recognise the strains it is under.

She said: "If the Conservative party is now seeking a period of stability and rebuilding, then those watchwords should not just apply to the party but the nation as a whole. The country and its priorities have been rather forgotten during several months of interminable navel-gazing and dangerous economic experiments.   

"Let us begin with public sector pay. On Friday, the National Education Union will launch the largest formal ballot of the education profession in a generation. 300,000 members will be asked if they are willing to strike over the real terms pay cut that was signed off by Rishi Sunak when Chancellor earlier this year. Teachers have seen a 20% loss in pay since 2010 and 27% for support staff over the same period. The recruitment and retention crisis in the profession has endured for almost as long and shows no sign of improving. These issues need to be addressed by the incoming leader.   

"Funding is also critical. Education unions came together at the weekend in an open letter to Conservative MPs, warning them of the danger point schools and colleges have now reached. The IFS predicts schools will see a £2bn shortfall by 2024, with school spending per pupil some 3% lower than in 2010 in real terms. Schools and colleges in the most disadvantaged communities are likely to be hardest hit by this new wave of impossible spending decisions. Serious capital investment in the repair of school buildings has also been deferred for too long.   

"These are the challenges which face the nation. The incoming Prime Minister needs to look with fresh eyes at the education sector and recognise the strains it has been under for far too long. This requires policy and funding shifts that will benefit schools, staff, parents and pupils alike. It is surely in everyone's interests to bring school funding into the 2020s and reward teachers and support staff with the real-terms above inflation pay rise they have deserved for far too long."