Hundreds join Shrewsbury protest against education funding cuts

That was just one of the chants that filled the air as hundreds of teachers, parents and pupils took to the streets of Shrewsbury to protest against planned cuts to education funding.

The demonstration was an impassioned plea to those holding the purse strings of the education budget not to make the cuts which could see Shropshire’s schools lose more than £13 million.

From teachers who have been there and seen almost everything, to children just starting out on their education, everyone was determined to do their bit to secure fairer funding for the county’s schools.

The march was met with support as it meandered through the town centre, past the Square and up Claremont Hill and into the Quarry.

Violins, drums and dozens of whistles made sure the demo was both seen and heard.

One of the organisers of the march, Jean Evanson, is the NUT Shropshire division secretary and she also teaches at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College.

She said: “I know there are several Conservative MPs starting to talk to the government about what is going on and we are an area with several Tory MPs.

“We want them to take responsibility and go back to government and say this is wrong.

“I am very pleased with the turnout. It has been fantastic. The fight has only just begun. We need to keep the pressure on.”

The march was organised on the back of figures released by unions that claim Shropshire’s schools will see funding cut by £13.4 million by 2019.

Unions say that will result in a shortfall of nearly £400 per pupil per year and the equivalent loss of 360 teachers across the county.

The Government disputes the figures and proposes to re-allocate school budgets according to a new national funding formula.

Once protestors had made it to the Quarry, speakers young and old took to the microphone to say what the cuts would mean to them.

Libby James, a year two pupil at Buntingsdale School near Market Drayton, told the crowds: “If my school has less money I am worried for my friends who need extra help.

“We might lose teaching assistants and teachers.

“Some of my friends need extra help and I am worried they will not be able to learn at school because they will not have the teaching assistants to help them.

“Every child has the right to education. These cuts are not fair.”

Many of those on the march were both parents as well as teachers, and said they had fears about the cuts from two different viewpoints.

Katherine Mooney, 36, teaches maths at Thomas Adams School in Wem. Her son Billy, 10, attends Ellesmere Primary School.

She said: “I just feel so strongly that this job is worthwhile doing and children deserve the best education with all the tools they need.

“The cuts we are suffering is stretching the workforce and it makes it harder to give the children the quality education they should be having.

“I think all my colleagues would agree it is not about protecting our wages it is about protecting the quality of the education we can give the children. It is vital.

“There are more requests for payments from parents for trips or groups coming into schools.

“There is less money in our pockets anyway so it is hard to give to those sort of things but we don’t want to stop giving them to the kids.

“It is good to see so many people supporting the demonstration. I am proud to have been part of it and I just hope it makes a difference.”

Councillor Roger Evans, leader of the Liberal Democrat party at Shropshire Council was also on the march.

He said he was there not on a political point, but as a person involved with several of his local schools.

He said: “I would guess over 1,000 people who are concerned and upset about the proposed cuts in education are here.

“Children are our future. They need the best. What is being done is stopping them from having the best.

“My school have an Ofsted visit last week. We know the result but we are now looking at how we can balance the books and continue.

“Can we continue as we are? I very much doubt it at present.”

Jo Yurky, the co-founder of Fair Funding For All Schools, had travelled from North London to lend her support to the protest.

The mum of two said: “Our parent campaign was founded because we felt that the government had broken promises it had made to parents.

“Pupil funding is going down. They are in denial. We can see what is happening and impact it is having on our children.

“Headteachers have been speaking out about this but they have been dismissed as scaremongers. We think the government should meet with them, discuss their concerns and find solutions for the benefit of our children.

“This is a cruel and divisive strategy made by a government simply making the choice not to invest in schools.

“Fair funding means every school having the money it needs to deliver good education that all our children deserve and that we as parents know our children deserve.

“No funds, no future. It is as simple as that.”