The poor state of school buildings is exposing pupils to “irreparable” harm, the UK’s children’s laureate has said, after a Guardian investigation revealed that more than 1.5 million students in England were being taught in dilapidated schools.
The award-winning screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce said the Conservative party’s decision to freeze funding per pupil in England for 14 years had left the country with an “enormous” equality gap.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said this year that investment in England’s ageing school buildings, many of which have been affected by the Raac – or crumbling concrete – crisis, was 25% lower in real terms than in the mid-2000s.
Cottrell-Boyce said: “This is a result of austerity. This is a result of a chosen policy. It’s that absolute lack of concern about any kind of equality. It’s demonstrably, visibly getting worse. The gaps are enormous.”
The 65-year-old author is best known for his children’s fiction as well as writing 24 Hour Party People and the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. He is also the UK’s children’s laureate, a prestigious title sponsored by the bookseller Waterstones.
Guardian research has found that almost 729,000 pupils in England study in a school that the government or responsible body believes needs major rebuilding or refurbishment.
A further 847,000 pupils study in a school with a high “relative condition need”, meaning it has a large number of defects and deterioration relative to the building size.
Overall, 1,576,032 children – one in six of the total in England – are studying in schools that either need major work done or are in a relatively poor building condition.
Cottrell-Boyce said shoddy school buildings were adding to “completely insurmountable” challenges for pupils in some of the most deprived parts of the country.
He said: “You wouldn’t put up with this in any aspect of public life. I think it’s specifically to do with kids. Is this a country or is it a death cult?
“The big thing that all middle-aged people who make policy neglect is that childhood is really quick – it’s over in a flash. And once the damage is done, it’s irreparable.”
Cottrell-Boyce said he was particularly angered by the conditions faced by pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic primary school, in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, which was evacuated in January 2022 after a routine inspection found that its floor was rotten and could collapse.
The school serves children in one of the most deprived parts of the UK and is located in sight of BAE Systems, where the UK’s multibillion-pound nuclear submarines are built.
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Two years later, the pupils are being taught on the floor in corridors at a temporary location and may not have a permanent school until 2029.
“We’ve written off a generation there, in Barrow [at Sacred Heart Catholic primary school]. That’s a whole generation that’s not had the benefits of an educational experience in terms of bonding, community building,” said Cottrell-Boyce.
“And [the school is] within sight of billions of pounds’ worth of government expenditure. It’s just an absolute outrage. It’s contemptuous, isn’t it?”
The writer said he was concerned about the long-lasting consequences of England’s underinvestment in school buildings: “When [pupils] come to reflect on it, when they’re older, it’s a very clear, very visceral experience of: ‘We don’t care about you. As a nation, you’re not important.’ And people who are not important do great damage in this world.”
The Conservative party has been contacted for comment. A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said it had “inherited a school estate in dire need of repair” and that it was “committed to turning it around for staff and pupils, turning the page on drift and neglect”.
The DfE said it was increasing investment in school buildings to £2.1bn next year and that Sacred Heart was on its school rebuilding programme. It added: “Raising school standards is at the heart of this government’s mission to improve children’s life chances, and high-quality and sustainable buildings are a key part of that.”
Source: theguardian.com
