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| Call for new school KO’d |
Parents in school protest
Parents and children call for a new school at a protest in
St George’s Gardens, Holborn |
THERE is no money for a ‘Holborn High’ secondary school
in the south of the borough, the Town Hall’s incoming education
chief told protesting parents on Saturday.
Dozens of parents and primary school children gathered with placards
at St George’s Gardens in Holborn to demand a school for children
who live more than 200 metres south of Euston Road, who have almost
no hope of getting into Camden’s oversubscribed secondaries.
A map showing the admissions boundaries of each of Camden’s
eight secondaries, prepared by parents, showed how around 1,400
children from Holborn are forced to travel long distances outside
the borough to get to school.
Campaigner Albie Fiore – father of three primary school age
children – said: “This is ripping apart our community;
children are losing contact with their friends at the age of 11
and parents are being forced to move to find their child a school
place within a reasonable distance.”
But Cllr Lucy Anderson, due to take over as education chief next
month, said: “We absolutely accept that there is an issue here
and we are increasing the number of places at existing schools but
one thing I cannot do is promise a new school.
“It’s an obvious point that there is no money for it and
we have missed out on the first wave of government funding.”
The earliest opportunity for a Department of Education grant is
2009, meaning a new school is not possible before 2012.
And parents in Holborn face a competing claim from parents the north
of the borough, where many face the same problems.
Cllr Jonathon Simpson, elected for the Liberal Democrats in Fortune
Green, but who will fight in the King’s Cross ward for Labour
at next year’s elections, said: “There are plenty of options
in the north of the borough – the real need is down here.”
Leading campaigner Emma Jones said she was glad councillors Simpson
and Anderson had attended the rally and posed for photos with the
protesters, adding: “It’s an issue for central government
really; it’s up to us to put pressure on the council, and it’s
up to the council to put pressure on the government.” |
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