Education – Page 5 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

04Jun 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Education Secretary must go after Sir Kevan resignation

Responding to the resignation of the Education Recovery Commissioner Sir Kevan Collins, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education Daisy Cooper said: "Sir Kevan was a good appointment and many of us were cheering him on. The Government’s pitiful offer of a £1.4bn to support a generation of young people who have lost months of learning was an insult to him and to our young people. "Our children deserve better than this useless Education Secretary. Time and time again he keeps getting it wrong. It really is the last straw - the Education Secretary has to go.”

27May 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Cross-Party MPs: Education Secretary must scrap proposed cuts to arts funding

Parliamentary news

Liberal Democrat Business spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP, has led a group of 51 MPs and Peers in calling for Gavin Williamson to issue new guidance to the Office for Students (OfS) and reconsider the proposed 50% cuts to the high-cost subject funding of arts subjects. In a letter sent to the OfS, the Secretary proposed cutting residual funding in half for Higher Education (HE) subjects not amongst the Government’s “strategic priorities” in England. Courses in music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology will therefore, under the proposals, suffer a 50% cut to their ‘high-cost subject funding’, which is provided for subjects with higher teaching costs. Independent campaign group Public Campaign for the Arts, whose efforts Sarah is supporting, has launched a petition calling for…

26May 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Williamson worst Education Secretary in a generation

Parliamentary news

Responding to the Public Accounts Committee report (Wed 26 May) criticising the Department for Education's handling of the pandemic, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education Daisy Cooper said: “Children, parents and teachers have all had an incredibly tough year. The inevitable challenges of Covid have been compounded by the shocking failures of a Conservative Government that has been poorly prepared and slow to act at every stage of the pandemic. “This report makes clear that Gavin Williamson has failed time after time to show leadership. He was shamefully slow to get laptops to pupils who need them, he sleepwalked into last summer’s exam fiasco, and he botched the reopening of schools in January. “Gavin Williamson is quite simply England's worst Education Secretary in a generation. Boris Johnson should have sacked him…

19Apr 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government must compensate students for lost education

Parliamentary news

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to double hardship funds for university students to £700m and compensate them for lost teaching and rent. In an Urgent Question in the House of Commons to the Minister of State for Universities, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Education Spokesperson, also said that the Government's proposed return date of 17 May – after many courses have finished – is the "final end of term insult" to students. Following the debate Daisy Cooper MP commented: “The Minister's warm words about concern for students cannot mask the fact that the Government is failing to take any real action to support those facing real hardship. "Many students have been unable to work for months – falling behind on rent and bills, and…

24Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Time to say thanks to our schools and education staff, say Oldham Liberal Democrats

Borough news

At Wednesday’s full meeting of Oldham Council (24 March), the Oldham Liberal Democrats will be proposing all Councillors give a big vote of thanks to Oldham’s school and education staff after a year in which they have been hard at work delivering tuition in the most trying post-war circumstances. Saddleworth North Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness is proposing the motion. He works in an academy in Manchester with pupils with special needs and knows from first-hand experience how hard his Oldham colleagues will have been working through the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking of the motion, Councillor Harkness said: “Everyone will be aware that all students have now returned to their classrooms and workshops from March 8 of this year, but some people will be unaware that teachers and education staff have…

22Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Lib Dems call for greater measures to increase accessibility in education

Parliamentary news

The Liberal Democrats have passed a motion at their Spring Conference which calls for greater measures to be taken to increase access in education. This includes: Ensuring every disadvantaged family and students have access to broadband that would be sufficient enough for home learning.The use of 4G/5G routers as a temporary fix for places without a proper broadband infrastructure, in order to improve internet access in parts of the country where internet speeds are slow.Greater communication between Universities and Government to allow them to deliver bursaries. Following the passing of the motion, Education Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: "Lockdown has demonstrated the stark digital divide that exists within and between communities. Students have suffered massive disruption to their education throughout the pandemic, and online learning has been insufficient for many.…

18Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Pupil Premium change will hit disadvantaged children hardest

Parliamentary news

Responding to reports that a shift in eligibility dates means many children will not benefit from pupil premium funding, Liberal Democrats Spokesperson for Education, Daisy Cooper MP, said: "Once again, disadvantaged school pupils are set to lose out as the Tories prioritise penny pinching over proper support. "This was raised by the Liberal Democrats weeks ago and I even wrote Gavin Williamson a letter to outline what a serious issue this was. "It is shocking and disappointing nothing has been done in the meantime. "By moving the goalposts on the entitlement criteria for the 'Pupil Premium', thousands of children whose parents have become unemployed between October and January will not get the crucial support they need. "Schools also stand to suffer because of this unnecessary move, forcing an additional financial…

17Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

NAO report: Williamson has failed a generation

Parliamentary news

A new NAO report has found the Department for Education’s response to the pandemic could have been done better and more quickly. Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP, has said it is “beyond comprehension” Gavin Williamson remains in post. The report finds the Department for Education had no plans in place to manage mass disruption to schooling. The report states that it was not until the end of June - over three months after schools closures were announced in the UK - that it began to formulate a plan that set out objectives, milestones and risks. Responding to the findings, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education said: “This report confirms what parents and teachers have known for a year: that a whole generation of children and young…

09Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Give school leavers an optional extra year

Parliamentary news

Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, has written to the Secretary of State for Education asking that he sets out proposals for a "Spring Forward" year of an optional fully-funded year of education for 17 to 18-year-olds who have missed out during the pandemic. "Unlike younger students, they do not have years ahead of them in school to gradually make up for the months of in-person teaching time they have lost during the last two academic years," the letter states. "So it is particularly urgent that you set out proposals to ensure they are not put at a disadvantage as they take their next steps in education, training or into the world of work. "As students return to school from 8 March, we are asking you to make…

03Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Budget betrays children, parents and teachers

Parliamentary news

Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, reacted to the Budget: “It’s simply astonishing that the Budget has nothing to tackle child poverty, nothing for children or young people or their early years education or schools. “Tens of thousands of childcare providers are at risk of closure, whilst school finances are at breaking point. "The Chancellor's Statement needed to give children and young people the opportunities to regain the learning time they have lost over the last year. "He has failed to extend free school meals permanently to ensure no child living in poverty goes hungry, he’s failed to give nurseries and early years providers any certainty and he’s failed to deliver much-needed extra funding for schools to help meet the additional costs of being open safely during the…

Tag: Education