The Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali today joined teachers and students from schools in Tower Hamlets to deliver a petition signed by thousands from the boroughcalling for the Government to scrap its proposed cuts to school funding.
According to the National Union of Teachers, the Government's proposed changes to the National Funding Formula will mean that schools in Tower Hamlets would lose £33million in funding by 2020, equivalent to cuts of £905 per pupil or 891 teachers across Tower Hamlets.
Organised by the National Union of Teachers, Rushanara was joined by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs and the Member of Parliament for Poplar and Limehouse, Jim Fitzpatrick, as well as students and teachers from several local schools.
Delivering the petition in the form of five large banners that have visited 60 different schools in Tower Hamlets over the last few months, Rushanara said:
"Today we are here to represent over sixty schools in Tower Hamlets that have signed a petition calling for the Government to urgently reverse its planned cuts to schools in Tower Hamlets.
The Government's changes to the funding formula will be disastrous for schools in Tower Hamlets and are completely unfair. Over the last two decades, the standard of education students receive in London has vastly improved. The Government’s proposed cuts will be devastating for our schools and put education standards at risk.
Schools in my constituency have gone from being some of the worst in the country to being some of the best. This cut in funding will badly damage schools and will act as a cap on aspiration.
The Government must listen to all these children, teachers and parents who are concerned about their school's futures and urgently scrap their proposed cuts."
