When children are the ones affected by the governments cuts the country begins to listen, or at least it should do.
The budget for renovating school buildings is expected to fall by more than half in real terms over the next four years, universities will see their funding cut by almost half (40%).
But the most explosive impact the cuts will have is on nursery education. Nurseries and playgroups, and “early years” education funding is to be reduced by a fifth, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.
The IFS study also revealed that it is children from more affluent backgrounds which will be hit the most. Under the coalition’s plans those in the poorest neighborhoods are likely to be the most protected.
The report on funding is the most depressing since records began some 50 years ago. You can read the full story here.
There was further concern in a report from the local paper the Ealing Times. It found, that young women are most worried about money, more concerned than they have ever been before now.
The third annual Girls Attitude survey found that those who plan to leave education and training at 18, more than one in five (22%) said this is because they cannot afford to study, up from just 8% in 2009.
The report also found that a third of 16 to 21-year-olds “need a couple of drinks for courage before a night out”.
What a sad place we must be in so many young women are so concerned about finances they have decided to not go to university.
We are letting down an entire generation of bright young people who had hoped they would be able to continue their education in the way that we have been able to do so.
What their future will turn out to be is uncertain and so it’s hardly surprising that they remain anxious and rely on a ‘couple of drinks’ to ensure they have a successful night out.
You can read the full story in the Ealing Times here.
And children will be failed in other areas- aside from education, but still related to it, as more than half of school breakfast clubs face closure, despite evidence showing that they are one of the surest ways to achieve better results for primary school children.
A hot meal in the morning is one of the surest ways to achieve better results for primary school children, for one in four of all UK children, school dinners are their only source of hot food.
Malnutrition, even scurvy, are rising and children coming to school hungry is not unusual in some of the poorest parts of the country.
Interviewed for the Guardian, Theresa Landreth, a head teacher in an inner London school sums up the effect a poor diet has on children: “It becomes pointless to teach because they aren’t going to progress throughout the morning. Breakfast club has transformed our school,” she said.
Behavior, attendance and performance at Mitchell Brook have dramatically improved since they introduced a Breakfast Club, but for how long it may continue is anybody’s guess. Over to you Mr. Gove?
