Keegan urged to apologise for ‘needless’ disruption brought on by trainer strikes
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abour has urged the Education Secretary to apologise for the “completely needless and avoidable disruption” brought on by the trainer strikes.
Shadow training secretary Bridget Phillipson accused the Government of being conscious of the upcoming strike motion for months however solely resolving the dispute final week.
In response, Gillian Keegan defended her report, highlighting the availability of further funding, enhancements in childcare companies and a major pay elevate for lecturers.
The Government reached an settlement with England’s 4 college educating and management unions, securing a complete 6.5% pay improve for all lecturers ranging from September, together with the next elevate for brand new lecturers, elevating their beginning wage to £30,000 per yr. Additionally, mid-career lecturers can count on a pay rise starting from £2,500 to £3,000 yearly.
Speaking throughout training questions, Ms Phillipson mentioned: “Ministers have known since last year that strike action by teachers was likely. Yet, after months of refusing to talk, it was only last week that the Secretary of State finally settled the dispute.
“So will she now take this opportunity to apologise to parents for the completely needless and avoidable disruption to their children’s education that she is responsible for?”
Ms Keegan mentioned: “Since I have come into this job at the end of October, the unions asked for an extra £2 billion. I delivered it. Families asked for childcare. I delivered it. The STRB (School Teachers’ Review Body) asked for 6.5% for teachers. I delivered it. It had to be funded. I delivered it.
“I have worked to deliver every single day in this job whereas she can’t even decide whether she will accept 6.5% or not.”
In a continued conflict within the Commons, Ms Phillipson additionally urged Ms Keegan to distance herself from the “private schools lobby” and undertake Labour’s plan to drive up requirements in colleges.
She mentioned: “Last week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that ending private schools’ tax breaks will raise up to £1.5 billion in additional revenue, confirming that Labour’s plans are fiscally credible. We would use that money to invest in 6,500 new expert teachers and better mental health support for all of our young people.
“So will the Secretary of State now distance herself from the discredited claims of the private schools lobby, do the right thing and adopt Labour’s plan to drive up standards in our school?”
Ms Keegan mentioned: “Labour have never driven up standards in our schools. Most of our private schools are nothing like Eton or Harrow. They’re far smaller and they charge a lot less. Many cost the same as a family holiday abroad or there’s plenty of parents who choose to forego life’s luxuries to give their children these opportunities.
“The IFS also said that the effect might be larger in the long to medium term. And there is still lots of uncertainty around these estimates… Labour’s tax hikes are nothing more than the politics of envy.
“As Margaret Thatcher once said, the spirit of envy can only destroy, it can never build.”
Elsewhere in the course of the session, Labour MP Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) raised issues over how the rise promised to lecturers in England will probably be funded, asking Ms Keegan the place “exactly” she discovered the cash.
Ms Keegan mentioned: “We have very constructive relationships with the Treasury, whether that’s on childcare, school funding, extra budgeting, and in this particular case, what we have done and, you know, this is something I have done many times in my 30-year business career, we have gone through every single line of the budget.”
She added: “We have basically protected frontline and we have reprioritised and what has changed is Treasury have allowed us to keep that money to reprioritise.”