Education funding: death by a thousand cuts

[noblegiraffe]

Constant drip-feeding of cuts being made to education provision as the government policy of short term cuts for long term pain continues. What is being affected:

School governor recruitment support programme cut https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/end-school-governor-recruitment-funding-will-worsen-crisis at a time when finding school governors (volunteers with a massive responsibility) is a real problem

Funding for creative and performing arts courses at universities cut https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/04/ministers-to-cut-funding-for-performing-and-creative-arts-courses-in-england

National tutoring programme cut https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/cutting-national-tutoring-programme-funding-schools (the only provision the government made to support children in recovering from the impact of lockdowns)

Funding for subject knowledge enhancement courses to enable more people to train to be teachers in shortage subjects cut in the middle of a teacher recruitment crisis https://schoolsweek.co.uk/teacher-training-top-up-courses-slashed-as-dfe-cuts-costs/

Relocation payments for international teachers to try to recruit physics and language teachers cut https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/ps10k-payment-overseas-teacher-trainees-cut (applications for teacher training in physics has shot up this year because of international applicants)

Funding for national professional qualifications for teachers cut [[https://schoolsweek.co.uk/free-npq-scheme-to-be-scaled-back/

That's before you even get onto cash strapped councils cutting things like vital children's services https://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/article/birmingham-councillors-approve-100m-cuts-to-children-and-families-services school transport for SEN pupils https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-68665686 or aiming to reduce the number of EHCPs awarded https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/10/revealed-covert-deal-to-cut-help-for-pupils-in-england-with-special-needs

There's also been a stealth cut to pupils eligible for free school meals, by maintaining the income threshold for qualification at the same level as 2017 despite massive rises in inflation since then.

It's all a bit depressing.

Thanks for highlighting this trend/ policy (?!) @noblegiraffe.

Hell in a hand basket journey continues and still it seems no one wants to face how broken and ever disintegrating further things are.

It’s already past the point of put in some long and medium term plans for improving recruitment or increasing investment or what we want to work towards. I don’t think people really grasp what the word cris means. There’s no point talking about improving diet and low impact exercise with a patient who’s dying of cardiac arrest in front of you.

I know that sounds dramatic but we really are at the point where even if government of whatever colour ties acted on the things they always talk about around election time it would not be enough. It’s too late.

Cutting funding for recruitment initiatives for teachers and governors during a crisis seems like absolute madness, which means that the DfE didn't have any other options.

We know that all government departments have been tasked with making cuts. The government have framed this as getting rid of things like 'diversity programmes' which Telegraph readers can scoff at as an obvious waste of money anyway.

But funding for recruitment? For children with SEN? These are surely harder to spin as trimming the fat.

And I only really know about these sorts of things because they're in education. What bone-chilling or "you must be mad?!" cuts are happening in the NHS? Defence?

The defence picture is also hideous from what I’ve read. Can’t recall the details but it’s bad.

So…educationally we’re cutting everything except the absolute bare bones and anyone who doesn’t ‘fit’ that model is done for.

Well there's no money in it for those with their snouts firmly in the trough so they aren't interested. It's been clear by the calibre of the Education Secretaries over the last decade and a half that state education is barely on their radar. A total disgrace.

After 14 years of Tory rule I wouldn’t expect anything other than this total shit show. They hate the public services and bitterly resent having to be responsible for them, they would happily privatise the lot.

It's fine, Labour are going to fix the entire thing with free breakfast clubs and 2 extra teachers in each secondary school, paid for by private school parents.

And now the DfE have axed funding to Now Teach too.

https://x.com/lucykellaway/status/1784467673394401320?s=61&t=U9XrcF693-JpMxeIueYG7g

During a recruitment crisis, the government are axing recruitment programmes. This is madness.

But Now Teach teachers actually tend to stick around!