The Welsh Government is doing all it can to fund schools, Education Minister Jeremy Miles insisted today as teachers face redundancy and heads warn subjects will have to go amid cuts Mr Miles said the Welsh Government was “finding as many ways as it could” to put extra cash into schools, but admitted they faced “very real pressures”.
Teachers and support staff in local education authorities including Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf have been told their jobs are at risk amid warnings that education across Wales will be “diminished” without funding to match rising costs.
Funds to cover the recent teachers' pay award has been passed to all 22 local education authorities and they have “committed” to passing that on to schools, Mr Miles confirmed.
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But there remains concern from school governors and the Nasuwt teaching union that that money will not filter down in all cases. They say questions remain over how schools will shoulder funding for the pay awards in future years, now the bar has been set higher.
School governors in the Vale of Glamorgan have said schools there will have to foot the bill for this year’s pay award, despite promises they won’t. Nasuwt official for y Neil Butler has claimed that redundancy notices issued to teachers in Rhondda Cynon Taf are partly a result of lack of funds promised for the pay award.
Speaking at a Welsh Government press conference today Mr Miles insisted the Welsh Government had helped schools all it could amid “real budget constraints”. He said education was a priority, but accepted schools face cash pressures.
“There are very real pressures on schools. One of these pressures is from the pay settlement. Obviously, we are providing funding in order to address that, but there are a range of other pressures from inflation and cost of living which schools are facing,” the minister said.
“Our commitment as a government has been, and continues to be, within the very real constraints of the budget we have in Wales, that we will prioritise education - and we have done that.
“In my own budget we have maintained funding to provide schools in the aftermath of Covid and also in funding from the Pupil Development Grant. So we are finding as many ways as we can to put additional funding into schools. But there are very real pressures."
He confirmed the Welsh Government has provided funding,or notification of funding, to all 22 local education authorities, to cover the teacher pay settlement for this year.
Asked if schools had that money yet he said local authorities have committed to passing that funding on to schools. To get our free daily briefing on the biggest issues affecting the nation, Wales Matters, click here
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