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NUT Cymru lobbies for fair funding

NUT members lobbied the Welsh Assembly on 8 December in protest over its budget proposals for education funding. On average, annual funding per pupil in Welsh schools is almost £500 lower than in England, and there are also big differences in funding levels between different local authorities in Wales.

Underfunding difficulties have already affected the country’s schools for years, so there was widespread anger when the Welsh Assembly Government published a draft budget for 2010-2011 offering a mere 0.9 per cent increase in education expenditure, despite inflation of 1.5 per cent. Thousands signed an NUT petition against this real-terms cut and the reduced resources, bigger class sizes and loss of jobs it will bring.

Over 100 teachers, governors, parents and pupils gathered at the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay on 8 December to lobby assembly members as they arrived to debate the budget. The protesters were buoyed by messages of support from councillors, local authorities and some assembly members themselves.

More than a third of AMs took time to speak to demonstrators. They included Jane Hutt, Education Minister, Nick Bourne, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Nerys Evans, Plaid Cymru spokesperson on education, and Gareth Jones, chair of the assembly’s Enterprise and Learning Committee.
David Evans, secretary of NUT Cymru, said: “The message is clear. Wales must close the gap in spending between the two countries that amounts to £496 per pupil, and they must close it now. We are not asking for funds in excess of those enjoyed elsewhere. We are merely seeking parity.”

New First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones, had made an increase in education spending a key part of his manifesto to become Labour leader in Wales. Speaking on BBC1’s The Politics Show on 13 December he delivered the assurances the NUT campaigners had been pressing for. “I want to make sure that money is channelled into ensuring that we spend more money per head on children in Wales than we do at the moment, and we will look to catch up with England,” he said.

Although he said the financial climate posed challenges, he insisted education would be a priority for the assembly. “I made a very clear commitment on education and that is that from 2011 onwards I’d like to see the education budget raised by 1 per cent every year above the percentage increase that we get from Westminster. It’s not an unaffordable level – it’s something we can do.”

NUT Cymru, while pleased with the outcomes so far, recognises that this is a long-term campaign. “Jobs are being lost, resources are stretched and class sizes are increasing,” said David Evans. “While we welcome the First Minister’s comments, it would take years to return to a level playing field, during which time thousands of Welsh schoolchildren will have been adversely affected. Assembly members should think of the future of education in Wales.” David has written to the new Minister for Education, Children and Lifelong Learning [see left] requesting a meeting.

How you can help
• Go to www.teachers.org.uk/walesfunding to sign our petition and email your AM.
• Set up a campaign group in your school and ask all teachers to get involved.
• Contact your association/division or the NUT Cymru office cymru.wales@nut.org.uk to become a fair funding campaigner.

PICTURE CAPTION: David Evans, surrrounded by fellow protesters, explains the NUT’s concerns to Jane Hutt and delivers the union’s petition calling for fair funding.


Academies accused of dumbing down

The government’s academies programme suffered a new set-back on 14 December with publication of a report accusing the independent, state-funded secondary schools of ’dumbing down’.

Research carried out by Civitas suggests that many academies are boosting their headline results and league table positions by pushing pupils into less challenging subjects and qualifications. The independent thinktank called on the government to freeze the academies programme and publish a breakdown, by subject and qualification, of all academies’ GCSE and equivalent results.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said the vaunted achievements of academies were more a result of spin than substance. She criticised the government’s “constantly changing and unfair methods of measuring a school’s progress“, adding: “The Civitas report is not surprising. It reflects the desperate need of the government to promote a failed policy.”


Croeso to new education minister

Leighton Andrews is the Welsh Assembly’s new Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning.

His appointment came as Carwyn Jones, the new First Minister for Wales, announced his cabinet on 10 December. Labour AM Andrews was formerly deputy minister
for regeneration.

David Evans, secretary of NUT Cymru, welcomed the news, calling Leighton “an experienced and respected Assembly Member”. He said the NUT in Wales was looking forward to being “able to forge an excellent working relationship similar to that we enjoyed with his predecessors in one of the most high profile and important jobs at the assembly”.
He also wished former Education Minister Jane Hutt success in her new role as Minister for Business and Budget.