Rt Revd John Saxbee: Policy “needs to be re-visited and revised

The Church of England’s lead spokesperson on education issues, the Rt Revd John Saxbee, has written to Education Secretary Michael Gove to express his serious concern at the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme in secondary schools.

As the House of Commons begins to debate the Academies Bill, the Church is signalling its deep disappointment at the recent announcement in another area of education policy, which it says will see the fate of the learning environment of at least 30,000 young people doomed to dilapidation for the medium term.

Bishop John’s letter focuses on the impact on the 23 Church of England secondary schools which were anticipating major building work in the near future but which have now been told they will no longer go ahead, and a further 18 CofE academy building projects now under review.

He also reflects on the impact on the wider education system, highlighting concern about the impact on communities under-served by the education system in the past, and predicting strong resistance from local communities to the sudden halt of the programme.

Bishop John argues that the Government’s policy “needs to be re-visited and revised so that new proposals can be brought forward which will give hope to those who currently feel very deflated and whose aspirations and hard work appear to have come to nothing.”

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