28 November 2007
The level of funding available to councils to deliver education services next year is insufficient and could result in job losses and have a major impact on the ability of schools and local education authorities to continue to raise standards across Wales.
This warning was voiced by education professionals within local government and all the main Teacher Unions in Wales during an emergency meeting held this week.
The meeting was held to discuss in detail the impact of the recent draft Assembly Government Budget and the implications of a 2.2% spending increase on education services.
In a joint statement, the WLGA and Teacher Unions said:
“Both local government and all the main Teacher Unions in Wales agree that the Assembly Government’s draft budget will have a profound impact on staffing levels across the service, schools and school improvement in Wales. It is of great concern to all parties present at this meeting that the amount of funding available to schools in England continues to rise at a far greater rate than in Wales.”
“Wales’ education authorities and schools are fully committed to delivering better educational outcomes for children and young people within their communities and to provide the best opportunities for learning and educational attainment. However, realistically there is only so much local authorities and schools can achieve with a limited funding pot and it will be near impossible for some authorities and schools to maintain existing education services based on a 2.2% increase. As a result, there can be no expectation that current standards will be maintained.”
During the meeting, the group also addressed the pressures on local authorities and schools to roll out a number of new Assembly Government initiatives such as the foundation phase, the revised Key Stage 3 national curriculum and 14 – 19 learning pathways. Although the underlying principles behind these initiatives were supported, it was agreed that the implementation of these would be affected by a lack of resources. Consequently, if programmes such as the Foundation Phase, the new play based curriculum for 3 – 7 year olds, are not implemented properly then the impact on learning at future key stages could be profound.
Notes to editors
The following Teacher Unions were in attendance were: NUT, NASUWT, UCAC, NAHT, ASCL and ATL
For more information contact: Natasha Weeks