North East Colleges march on Westminster for ‘Love Our Colleges’ campaign
Heads have marched alongside their students this week as North East’s colleges rise up in protest over cuts they say are “short-changing students”.
Representatives of post-16 schools and colleges from across the country rallied at Parliament Square, Westminster, on Wednesday.
The march, described as “unprecedented” by the education unions who jointly organised it, saw heads and CEOs of major sixth form and further education colleges protest alongside teachers and students.
They are demanding a 5% increase in funding for 16-19 education every year for five years, with more ring-fenced funding for increasing pay and reversing cuts they claim have amounted to a 30% reduction in funding over the last ten years.
They have also called for pupil premium, extra funding given to schools for economically disadvantaged students, to be extended to cover those over the age of 16.
The campaign follows a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies which claimed funding for students in school sixth forms and further education (FE) colleges has been “severely squeezed” since 2010.
Read more on the regional colleges taking part on the Evening Chronicle.
Read more on coverage on the day here.