Policy No 4 – Part 1: Education

Vote Rylands                  Folkestone West Division  May 4th 2017

Six of the eight educational establishments in the Folkestone West Division will lose £2.2 million pounds due to the cuts to be implemented to these schools by 2019. This is equal to the lose of 63 teachers across the six schools.

Kent County Council Education Department are unable to change these facts. Nor is the elected chamber, as these are cuts being handed down by Central Government and KCC can do nothing to stop them.

The National Union of Teachers & ATL say that unless the Government allocates more money, schools in the UK will lose £3 billion a year in real terms by 2020.

All schools across Kent by 2019,  will see an overall budget decrease by £78.6 million. This is equal to the loss of 2110 teachers across Kent and a funding drop per pupil of £403 on average by 2019.

Across the Folkestone West Division this means that Folkestone Academy will see cuts of 16%, Harvey Grammar will see cuts of 13%. Sixty percent of ALL secondary schools are now running a deficit, this is why KCC should not invest into PFI schools in Kent as they are extremely costly and certainly not value for money.

Stella Marris will see cuts of 8%, Christchurch Academy 7% and St Eanswythe’s and Morehall Academy will see cuts of 11% respectively. There are currently no figures for for Pent Valley, The Beacon or East Kent College.

We now know Pent Valley will re-open in 2018 after yesterday’s announcement by the Education Secretary and that it will be run by the Turner Schools who have been in business for a little over a year (March 24 2016). Turner Schools have Sarah Collins (nee Richardson) wife of Damian Collins MP, as a director. For a company who hasn’t even posted any accounts this must be good news even though they have no proven track record.

Anyway, how will the cuts fall upon the Folkestone West Division? The chart below shows you quite clearly.

So by 2019, Folkestone West Division schools will have lost the equivalent of 63 teachers, or £2.2 million pounds, due to the cuts to be imposed by Conservative Central Government and carried out by Conservative led KCC.

This will no doubt affect class sizes, reduce extra curricular activities and do away with essential support staff and services.

What Can Be Done?

I would urge all Families to lobby our MP Damian Collins, write to Justine Greening MP Secretary of State for Education and attend local meetings to fight the changes, which coincide with a growing crisis in overall education funding, with schools being asked to save £3 billion.

Please realise doing nothing will change nothing and will mean a vastly reduced education system for all children in the Folkestone West Division and beyond. I for one, am not prepared to let this happen on my watch without causing a serious fuss, if elected on May 4th. So Vote Rylands  –  Vote Independent  –  May 4th.

If you want to see how your child’s school will be affected please visit schoolcuts.org.uk

Published & Promoted by Bryan Rylands Flat D Avenay Court Folkestone CT20 2LN

All the information above is my own and does not represent the views of the Shepwayvox Team who have kindly allowed me to use their blogsite.