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Sarah Teather and Brent Liberal DemocratsWorking Hard for Brent |
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Brent Children Left Out By Government School Places Failure - Teather
March 3, 2009 4:00 PM
Sarah Teather is helping local families who need more school places
Local Liberal Democrat Brent MP Sarah Teather has spoken out in parliament on behalf of those children in Brent unable to find a school place within the borough.
Between 2006 and 2007 there was a 9% increase in the number of applications for reception class places in Brent, with reception class numbers jumping from 3,000 to 3,265 pupils. At the moment, 44 children in Brent are out of school waiting for a primary school place, and 74 are waiting for a secondary school place to become available.
New figures from London Councils show that if the Government do not act now, we could see nearly 12,000 five-year-olds across London without a primary school place and more than 15,000 children being educated in temporary classrooms over the next six years.
Government Ministers at the Department for Children, Schools and Families have refused Brent Council's application for emergency funding.
Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:
"It is deeply distressing for many Brent families to have a child out of school while they wait for a place to become available. Education is a basic, fundamental right for children in this country, and it is scandalous that so many local children are losing out.
"Instead of providing help, the government's response has been to force Brent schools to choose between modernising a few of the out of date buildings, or creating extra places which are so desperately needed. This choice between better schools or bigger schools is highly unfair: children in Brent deserve both.
"With Brent's population constantly on the increase, more and more children are looking for a primary school place every year. Until government education ministers wake up and smell the coffee, this problem is only going get worse.
"Brent is one of the most needy boroughs in the country and, for many, education is the only way out of poverty. If we don't act now even more children in Brent could be denied the education that they need."
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