Cuts to education must stop 

• YOUR article on school cuts (Schools go begging to parents, May 4) gave a glimpse of the effects two years of frozen and, in some cases, reduced budgets have had on most of Camden’s schools.

But it’s not just equipment and furniture under threat. Since January this year, one-third of Camden’s local authority primary, secondary and special schools have written to us with a variety of proposals for redundancies to important staff.

These proposals remove dedicated staff in key roles for both children’s education, wellbeing and safety.

Some secondary schools for example have proposed reducing the number of science or design technology technicians. In both cases these staff ensure children get practical experience and develop skills to deal with using potentially dangerous equipment.

The loss of staff mean that support in lessons is cut back, maintenance of costly and dangerous equipment is less frequent, or expensive equipment is left unused as the subject is cut from the curriculum.

Recently Islington Council was fined £200,000 when a child lost part of a finger in one of their schools.

Some schools have proposed to reduce technical support to a level that a key advisory body (CLEAPPS) warned: “The availability and range of resources will become restricted and the development of effective practical programmes is likely to be impaired.”

Teaching assistants are a large target for redundancy proposals. However the danger to staff and students from cutting these posts is increased by the expansion of the policy to include as many students who in the past would have gone to a special school into a mainstream school.

Unison has supported this policy as long as the additional resources are available to provide proper support to educate these students.

Cutting teaching assistant posts increases teacher workload, reduces support to students, particularly those who need additional support, and can lead to behaviour problems in class. Physical incidents involving classroom staff are increasing to the extent where many now consider them routine and don’t report them.

The past two years of school budget stagnation, a potential two years of deep cuts followed by a decade of further budget stagnation, were proposed by the government for Camden schools before the election was announced.

We urge people in the two constituencies inside the borough of Camden to vote to protect an education where, for example, 98 per cent of primary children can go to a “good” or “outstanding” Ofsted-rated local authority school.

This quality of education will not be delivered by Camden schools if education funding does not receive a £3billion boost.

However if the national result fails to prioritise education, our school communities need to think hard about fighting to stop our schools becoming dangerous.

NHS cuts rightly grab the headlines on a regular basis. Two-thirds of English NHS trusts ended the last financial year in deficit. The government bails them out each year because operationally and political it is too dangerous to contemplate trusts going “bankrupt”.

We think there is a strong case for our schools to not reduce spending levels to protect a balanced broad education for Camden children that is safe and offers them all the opportunities to achieve their best. It would mean schools, like hospitals, go into deficit.

Parents, students, staff, school leadership and councillors should make sure there is a political danger to a government forcing cuts and not a danger to children’s education.

HUGO PIERRE
Camden Unison Schools Convener
JOHN SHEPHERD
Camden Unison Children’s Services Convener