News British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA)
Cash injection for Schools R
ay Barker, Director of British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), looks at some good news for schools facing the challenge of rising numbers
By 2015, pupil numbers in maintained nursery and state-funded primary schools are projected to increase by 10 per cent. State-funded secondary school rolls of pupils aged under 16 have been in decline since 2004 and are expected to decline further until around 2016, when the increases in primary pupil numbers will start to flow through.
Changes in pupil numbers like this will have a big impact in schools as funding per-pupil is so important to plan for the future. Rising numbers also have a major impact on equipping a school, as well as building or refurbishing learning spaces. How can you cope with a new class of nursery children? How can you teach them? Where will they be put? London boroughs have been particularly affected. So, it is good news that London boroughs are to be the main beneficiaries of £600m additional funding for primary school places, announced last November by George Osborne. Brent tops the list with over £30m. Waltham Forest and Barking and Dagenham get nearly £30m each. The extra funds will be made available for primary places in 2012/13.
The DfE said: “In spite of the challenging economic climate, we have doubled the annual funding previously available to help create new school places. Funding is targeted at areas where the pressures of soaring birth rates are being felt the most and allocations are based on information that local authorities provide. We plan to announce future funding allocations for school places at the end of this year.”
New director for BESA T
he British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), the education sector’s trade association, announces the arrival of new director, Caroline Wright. Wright, who will take up her position on the 14th May, will be replacing Ray Barker who is retiring from BESA after twelve years. Ray will continue to act as an adviser and commentator on industry, technology and literacy issues. He will concentrate on writing and publishing and furthering his work in
education as Chair of Governors in a primary school and as Chair of the National Literacy Association.
Wright will be bringing her own wealth of sector experience to BESA having spent much of the last 15 years working in senior positions within Government and the public sector.
From an early career in journalism Wright moved on to public sector PR and communications roles at The Post Office, The Department of Trade and Industry and the Cabinet Office. An interest in education resulted in her spending more than 10 years leading education communications at Ofsted, Partnerships for Schools and, as Director of Communications and executive board member at the Department for Education. In March 2011 Wright left the Civil Service to run her own communications consultancy specialising in the youth and social care sectors. She is also an NHS Non-Executive Director at the country’s largest acute NHS hospital trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS University Trust. Dominic Savage, director general, BESA commented; “Ray has been the highly respected face of BESA for many years combining an unprecedented understanding of the sector with an exceptional level of service to our members, schools and government associates. We have spent the past few months working to find the exceptional calibre and capability of replacement that we wanted. It is clear that Caroline’s extensive and broad ranging experience of the public sector, education and the commercial world ideally positions her to offer our members the desired support.”
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Education in South Sudan V
SO Volunteer Keith Shilton describes his first few weeks working with in Yambio, South Sudan
When I arrived in South Sudan in February this year to volunteer with VSO, I was not sure what to expect from life in the world’s newest nation. While there are increasingly tense political relations with the country’s northern neighbour, I have never felt in any danger in Yambio. Almost everyone I meet is desperate for long term peace and is focusing on how to improve their lives by establishing a functioning society, starting with good hospitals and schools. I have been working as an Education Advisor with several departments in the Western Equatoria State Ministry of General Education and Instruction. It’s an interesting time to be involved. The new Minister of Education has tasked the ministry with two key challenges: to develop an inspection system and to promote the education of girls. Across South Sudan, there is a need to improve education for girls, who make up just 37% of the primary school population. The Minister has also indicated that he wants much more community involvement in the education system.
It is clear that there are some very capable people in the ministry who have good, sound plans for the future of education in the state, while others need more support. However the most striking issue is the lack of resources to make progress. There is no local supply of electricity and sometimes the on- site generators have been unable to produce electricity because there was no money for broken parts. Similarly if printer cartridges run out and there isn’t money to buy new ones: then we are not able to print documents. To try to overcome the lack of money I have been supporting the departments to develop action plans as part of proposals for much needed finance from aid agencies such as UNICEF or USAID. The ministry is very pleased to have recently received a UNICEF grant of just under £2million for the next two years for the whole state. To put that into some kind of context, however, there are many primary schools in the UK which receive more financial support than that over two years.
The lack of electricity at the flick of a switch and a similar lack of instant running water are the two hardest things to get used to. All our water has to be pumped from the ground at the moment. However once the rainy season starts, later this month, then the many water tanks attached to guttering systems will fill and we will have water through the taps. This should help me wash the dust out of my clothes. Yambio has no tarmac roads and a constant dust cloud is created by busy traffic moving through the dirt roads. The reddish brown dust covers everything, your clothes, the furniture and you. Despite this, I have a much better life than I anticipated, living in small annex to an establishment run by a Catholic order of monks known as the “Christian Brothers”. The accommodation is basic but comfortable and the compound even has a satellite TV, so at the moment I spend Saturday nights watching English Premier League football and drinking a couple of Kenyan beers. All of the people I meet are friendly, interesting and welcome the support and advice that volunteers like me can offer. I am glad I made the decision to use my professional experience as a head teacher in the UK to support the South Sudanese people to give future generations of children the opportunity to prosper. I would recommend the experience to other education professionals.
May 2012
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