Ed Balls called it a black day for our country's schools and how right he is.
Years of planning, years of dreaming, now gurgling down the drain
This is what we were planning in Liverpool, 24 secondary schools rebuilt or refurbished, to the tune of a third of a billion pounds, a huge investment in our city's children and their education.
And in my area, we were looking forward to bringing two high achieving top quality schools to the Littlewoods site on Edge Lane. As the LCC press release said "It will see the two Church of England schools becoming hi-tech 'science schools', working with more than 40 local businesses and opening up a wealth of vocational opportunities for young people." What a tragic lost opportunity for the schools and also for this iconic building whose facade was to have been preserved as part of the scheme. How will we protect it now?
Teachers, pupils and parents are numb with shock.
In March, just a few short months ago, Cllr Warren Bradley, then LibDem Leader of Liverpool City Councillor said "Building Schools for the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and I'm delighted the (Labour) government has given our plans the go-ahead. It's great news for Liverpool and paves the way for us to transform education at every secondary school in the city.
"Liverpool's future prosperity rests on the shoulders of our young people. It's vital we provide them with first-class, 21st century education facilities, which help them develop as confident, skilled, job-ready individuals."
I wonder what he is saying now that his LibDem party's coalition government has betrayed those young people?
And of course the damage is being done right across the country, including the school in Bolton, which David Cameron visited for an opportunistic photo during the election campaign but who he has now let down. I bet he daren't visit them again for a long while!
Thank God we got so much of the primary school programme in K&F sorted. At least the kids will get some of their education in decent schools.
Edit: Looks like I spoke too soon! Right across the city primary schools were today worrying that this capital scheme might also be in jeopardy.
2 comments:
Interesting quote from Tim Warren at LCC who has just seen three years of his working life go to waste.
Tim Warren, assistant executive director at Liverpool City Council, said: "This is devastating news for our Building Schools for the Future programme, which would have been the biggest investment ever in the city’s schools.
"We have spent three years developing our plans in conjunction with headteachers, staff, young people and local communities. There has been a massive investment of time and resources in building an effective bid which was signed off by the government earlier this year.
"These plans would have transformed education in Liverpool, creating new state of the art facilities benefiting tens of thousands of young people and giving them the skills they need to get decent jobs.
"It would have also helped the ongoing regeneration of the city because decent schools help build solid communities where people want to live."
In a few short weeks, this unholy con-dem alliance have achieved something previously unimaginable to me. They are worse than Thatcher. I thought that would be impossible, but they, unfortunately, have proved me wrong. The Lib Dems should hang their heads in shame, and I hope they wake up each night having nightmares. They are certainly finished in Liverpool,and maybe also finished nationally.
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