School Funding Gap raised in Assembly

The funding gap between English and Welsh Students was raised by Welsh Conservative Antoinette Sandbach in the National Assembly this week. Currently English students receive on average £604 a head more in funding than Welsh Pupils. The annual impact on the average rural primary school with around a 175 pupils is about £106,000 less funding each year than their English counterpart. For secondary schools the average secondary school with around 950 pupils gets £500,000 less funding per year.

Antoinette Sandbach Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs challenged Labour& 39;s First Minister to deliver on the promise made by the Education Minister in May 2010 that he wanted to see more frontline funding for schools.

After the exchange Antoinette said "Labour now has a real responsibility to school children in North Wales. There are currently consultations affecting rural schools across North Wales which are looking at merger or closure. These closures would be unnecessary if Labours Welsh Assembly Government funded schools directly, which would release an extra £106 Million pounds, money which should be available for headteachers to spend in their schools. This money could mean more teachers, better equipment, and better results for North Wales children and it is now time for the Labour Welsh Government to stop short changing Welsh children."