by Pete Baldrey, GMB member (pictured here with Labour’s shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner)
On Tuesday 24th October, GMB members Sarah Church and myself, along with
concerned teachers and parents travelled to Westminster to lobby Swindon MPs on cuts to education. This was part of a national campaign.
I met with Conservative MP for North Swindon, Justin Tomlinson. Justin stated that
funding was increasing for schools in North Swindon. However, in reality the evidence shows that schools are facing a squeeze due to previous cuts since 2010. This has created deficits in around a third of schools in England.
Schools are struggling. Cuts in staffing, resources and extra opportunities for
pupils are the norm. In addition, there is a nationwide recruitment and retention crisis within education. Teaching used to be the number one choice of graduates under Labour, but under the Conservatives this is not the case. The public sector pay cap has done nothing to attract people into schools.
Education needs more investment in terms of pay for all staff, to recruit more support staff like teaching assistants and to provide excellent before and after school activities for pupils of Swindon.
After all, the pupils of today are the future of the UK
GMB THREE SHIRES W15 branch 