Cover story - March 8, 2010 issue
Education budget cuts would result in fewer teachers, larger classes, and fewer exam choices, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has warned.
The Government has pledged an average funding increase of 0.7 per cent for schools for 2011/2012, but there will also be central efficiency savings. ASCL president John Morgan says real-terms cuts would mean larger class sizes and fewer classroom resources, and would hamper the government’s aim of boosting results, especially for deprived pupils.
In an address at the association’s conference at the weekend, he warned that there was no room for efficiency savings in school budgets without pupils’ education being hit.
A survey carried out for the ASCL shows that teachers could be first to be axed in schools if widely forecast cuts to education spending are introduced in future.
Of 200 responses from secondary heads, two-thirds said they would consider increasing class sizes as a ‘priority’ if they lost a hypothetical two per cent of their budgets.
Nearly half said they would also consider cutting back on textbooks and subject resources, limit subject choices post-16, and resist ICT spending.
The same proportion said they would look at increasing staff teaching loads and cutting back on staff training.
Education secretary Ed Balls said: ‘The Pre-Budget Report announced that, while making tough savings at the centre, funding going direct to schools will rise in real terms for the next three years.
‘This is a tougher settlement for schools than they have been used to in the lastdecade, but the combination of rising funding and tougher expectations on efficiencies means schools will have the resources they need to meet the frontline cost pressures they face.’
Cover story - March 1, 2010 issue
The Science and Learning Group is warning of widespread concern over the content of both the GCSE and A level syllabus in science and maths. It says students do not have the opportunity to display their depth of knowledge of a subject – in particular in A level physics and chemistry exams.
In its report – Science and Mathematics for the 21st Century – the group says: ‘The content and assessment of science and mathematics at GCSE and A level is a prime concern to many within the science and teaching communities.’
It says teachers should be allowed to teach some areas of the course in more depth – rather than stick to a tick-box approach which will get the right results. They should be able to build on their own interests and stretch their pupils.
It acknowledges that the number of students taking the subjects is rising. However, it adds: ‘In spite of much good work, there are still significant problems in education in science and mathematics in schools and colleges. In particular, there is a strong perception that assessment has become the “tail that wags the dog” of the education system and that it has been inadequate in the testing of students’ depth of subject knowledge and understanding of key concepts.’
It calls on exam boards to recruit enough examiners with in-depth subject knowledge to devise searching questions for pupils.