'Whoever wins election has a monumental task'
Ashley Crittenden, chair of the Kent Association of Leaders in Education on the challenges the sector is under. Read the full story at KentOnline.co.uk
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00:00So I think a really serious look at the finances that schools have access to. We have not seen
00:09the rise that is needed, although they will say that they have invested in schools. That's not
00:14the case. Many of our children and young people are having to be educated in buildings that are
00:20not fit for purpose. So as well as not having the levels of funding that we need to have the
00:28high quality of staff to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable children, actually,
00:34the buildings aren't conducive to really high quality education. So that needs a serious look
00:40at. As well as really then considering the pay of our school teachers and support staff. The
00:49role has changed dramatically. I became a teacher in 1995, and the world that we live in is
00:55unrecognisable. We need really highly skilled professionals working in our schools, and the
01:01pay does not match that. And we do not have access to the high quality CPD that is then really needed
01:10to help us understand the challenges that we're facing with some of the complex needs of these
01:14children coming through. Whichever political party, you know, becomes our next government,
01:23they have got the most monumental task ahead. There are so many services that are in absolute
01:29crisis. And I'm well aware that they are going to be having to look at other services,
01:35other public services too. But if we do not get it right for education, then we are not
01:41in a position to be helping to build our young people of the future.