Since the beginning of 2017, the Government have massively cut funding to all schools around the UK. So far, £2.8bn has been cut from over 17,942 schools, with many more still under the threat of having their already minimal budget sliced. Government funding has not been this low since the mid 1990s, the Institute of Fiscal Studies have said. IFS have estimated that spending on pupils would decrease by over 6.5% during this government’s time in power, with further budget cuts to follow. “The Department for Education unfortunately doesn’t know how much it costs to educate a pupil whether it be a primary or secondary pupil,” Emma Knights, the association’s chief executive, old BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “They don’t know how much it should cost if you’re an efficient school providing a good education for each pupil.” “What [the IFS analysis is] really showing us is the cake simply isn’t big enough to educate all the pupils that we have across the country.”
Consequently, many negative outcomes have arisen from the cuts. A YouGov poll on health and hygiene revealed that over half a million students avoid drinking water during the day so they don’t have to use their school toilet. Students refuse to use school bathrooms because they are unsanitary, broken, or have a lack of essential supplies (soap and toilet paper, for example). Due to insufficient funding, schools are unable to amend the bathroom problems, leaving many students suffering throughout the day. Not drinking water or using the toilet subsequently makes it extremely difficult for students to concentrate during school, with one in three complaining of migraines and a lack of focus during school hours.
Not only is this a horrific experience for students, but teachers also suffer at the hands of funding cuts. Staff and even headteachers report they have had to step in and help to clean toilets and begin the longwinded process of amending the dire bathrooms. Funding cuts have left schools without cleaners, without means to repair, and without the health of many students being up to par. It’s an unfair situation that impacts the lives of both students and adults on a daily basis. Moreover, the cut has also affected services provided to pupils. A Sheffield primary school that offers mental health services to their students have noted that their programme has changed sufficiently since the cut was introduced back in 2017. David Barker, a local councillor and school governor, said “I am a governor at a school in the heart of a great community but a community with real challenges.” He also made the point that “If anyone thinks infant schools are just about getting kids through SATs, we regularly do child and mental health studies at our school and this is what some of the infant kids said about their lives – I feel sad at home; I can’t sleep and my sister has autism; I feel sad because dad doesn’t live with me anymore; I can’t sleep because of everything going through my mind; I’m worried about my dad, he said things about my grandad and I have horrible dreams.” Children as young as 5 years old should not suffer at the hands of a government who are capable of changing that fate.
Curious about my own school’s budget cut, I came across a website called schoolcuts.org.uk that allows you to search how much your school’s budget has declined by. I discovered that since 2015, Swakeleys School for Girls’ budget has been cut by over £1m, which averages at a cut of £297 per pupil. Us as the student body feel the cuts impacting our education as textbooks and resources have become scarce and sacred, a message that should not be spread in schools. Students should have free access to resources to learn without the worry of not having the resource next lesson. Departments struggle, particularly those that are not a core subject. The sad reality is that this is the case in many schools all over the UK.
Government funding is crucial in the wellbeing, health and overall happiness of students. Action must be taken if educative services are to return to their former state: funding now equals better prospects for the future of our humanity.
