Children can often help you see the world in a different way. Sometimes they can show you things as they truly are. On a visit to a local secondary school recently one of the younger pupils asked me: “Have you ever been to that green place? Where everyone shouts at each other?” I had to admit that, yes, I was indeed familiar with the House of Commons.
Education is very important to me - my parents were both teachers and I taught history before going into politics. This is why I’ve been closely involved in discussions over education funding since being elected and have frequently discussed the issue with local secondary school heads. And so I’m delighted to say that the Government is making real progress on this issue.
For a long time Governments have known that school funding in this country has been deeply unfair. Children in different parts of the country attract very different levels of funding for no good reason at all. Yet because making the system more equitable costs money successive governments have dodged the issue. So I’m extremely pleased that we are now getting to grips with this problem.
In the summer the Education Secretary Justine Greening announced an additional £1.3bn for schools and last week she formally introduced a new National Funding Formula which will end the historic inequalities in school funding - whilst ensuring that no school will lose out.
I was pleased to be able to deliver some good news about funding personally to the heads of both St Martin’s and Brentwood County High when I visited them last week. As a result of the proposed NFF, schools in Brentwood and Ongar will receive an increase in funding of 3.6%, an additional £2 million.
I believe that money spent on a decent education for the next generation is always money well spent. This government is delivering above inflation increases to per pupil funding whilst addressing the long-standing unfairness in our funding system - this will be good for our schools, good for our pupils, and ultimately good for our country.