School rebuilding plans scrapped to save cash
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by Martin Jefferies
mjefferies@thekmgroup.co.uk
Thousands of Thanet school pupils will miss
out on long-awaited new facilities planned under the Building
Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
The government announced on Monday (July 5) it
is to scrap the scheme - a decision that affects nine schools on
the island.
They include Chatham House Grammar School,
Clarendon House Grammar School, Foreland School and Hartsdown
Technology College, as well as Hereson School, Laleham Gap School,
Northwood Centre PRU, Stone Bay School and Ursuline College.
However, the redevelopment of King Ethelbert
School, which is already under way, will not be affected.
Education secretary Michael Gove said: “In the
light of the public finances, it would have been irresponsible to
carry on regardless with an inflexible, and needlessly complex
programme.”
Although the news is a blow to many pupils and
teachers, Andy Somers, principal of Hartsdown Technology College,
Margate, said: “The BSF announcement was not unexpected but it does
end months of speculation, rumour and endless waiting.
“While it may be seen as a wasted effort by
some, I like to see the BSF experience as a catalyst that will spur
us on to bigger and better endeavours for our students and our
expanding role within the community.”
The £55 billion BSF programme was the largest
ever investment in school buildings. Almost every secondary school
in England was due to be rebuilt or renewed over a 20-year
period.
Charles Dickens School, Dane Court Grammar
School and St George’s School, all in Broadstairs, had already
benefited from the scheme.
The huge reduction in the scheme has come
under fire from opposition parties and teaching unions.
Christine Blower, the general secretary of the
National Union of Teachers, said there was “no excuse for leaving
schools which were promised new buildings swinging in the
wind”.
“Poor learning environments have a negative
impact on the education of children and young people,” she
added.
Tuesday, July 06 2010
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