A perfect storm: the horror story that is education funding

There are bold claims that there’s more money in the system than ever before, but equally, there are now more pupils than ever before; 8.5 million and growing by 100k per year.  After the NFF was announced, the reality became clear that per-pupil funding across the board will fall 4.6% by 2020. Is there a perfect storm brewing, or are we already in the eye of it?

So, not the time to be spending on edtech some might say, but for those SLTs in the know, quite the opposite is true, as they realise that for maximum impact, with modest outlay, embedding the right technologies with supporting content within the teaching framework might very well save the day, bringing positivity, reducing workload and workplace stress.

Supporting staff with these technologies has been shown to reduce their load, assisting with mental health and wellbeing – with the knock-on effect shown through reduced absence as well as addressing the industry’s larger retention and recruitment bête noir. Should these issues be addressed, resulting in staff being more motivated, then the financial burden of the ever-present cost of recruitment could be minimised, releasing funds for other products that work hard for all, for pupils, teachers and the whole school.  

Having been in the sector for over 10 years (before ‘edtech’ was a thing), my view is that we are in the eye of the storm, where there is only one way to go – out. The government has finally realised that it is no-longer sustainable to continue to under-fund the NHS – surely it is only a matter of time before it realises the same about education, allowing teachers to make the right decisions to invest in resources that work.

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