Over half of England's schools are being forced to consider making staff redundant after being left with "no fat left to cut", the head teachers' union has warned.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said that years of Government underfunding combined with rising costs, including "eye-watering energy bills", has left educators facing difficult choices to avoid falling into deficit. A new survey, the largest ever of school leaders, found that two thirds (66%) of head teachers said they will have to make teaching assistants redundant or reduce their hours.
Half (50%) of the 11,000 head teachers asked also said that they are looking at reducing the number of teachers or teaching hours in their school. NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman blamed a "perfect storm of costs" for the worrying state of the education sector, and raised concerns about the impact the cuts could have on students.
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Mr Whiteman warned: "With no fat left to cut following a decade of austerity, many thousands of schools are now looking at falling into deficit unless they make swingeing cuts. Education is truly in a perilous state."
The survey of mostly primary school leaders found that 54% of head teachers said they will go into deficit this year without making further cuts, with just 5% of respondents believing they will be able to pay their school costs in the next academic year (2023-24) without going into deficit. This worrying statistic means that more than nine in 10 schools will be left unable to balance their budget without resorting to drastic measures.
"The only things left to cut are things that will have a real immediate impact on children – and especially those who are already the most disadvantaged and vulnerable," the union leader explained. "This goes against everything school leaders strive for, and the anger and desperation I am hearing from my members is unprecedented.
"Schools are finding that they have no option but to make redundancies. A reduction in teaching assistants and teachers will be catastrophic, leading to larger class sizes and less support for children with the greatest needs. This cannot be allowed to happen."
Head teachers said that they are also considering cuts when it comes to student services, with almost half (47%) admitting that they will be forced to reduce non-educational support for children next year. Furthermore, 44% of school leaders said that they would have to reduce spending on targeted interventions for pupils who need additional support, and a third (31%) said they will have to reduce the number of children receiving tutoring support through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP).
"Schools will no longer be able to afford those crucial services that are there to support pupils – things that children rely on not just for education but for their health and wellbeing. Things like in-school mental health services, counselling, and speech and language therapy," Mr Whiteman warned.
"Having refused to fund the proposed post-Covid recovery plan last year, this Government is effectively abandoning the most vulnerable children in society a second time by decimating the support schools can offer during a renewed time of crisis."
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