Tight budgets are leaving school head teachers feeling stressed and like 'they have nowhere to turn', the Bishop of Worcester has warned.
Dr John Inge told the House of Lords on Thursday that he had heard from head teachers in his diocese who have been so stressed out by funding shortages that they have been unable to sleep properly at night. Others have taken extended leave, putting even more pressure on budgets to pay for cover teachers.
The bishop said one school head he had spoken to had described being asked to double the number of students while being given no additional funding to accommodate them.
A common concern among head teachers, he said, was being able to provide adequate education for special needs children. In one school, he said speech and language support had been reduced to just one afternoon a week.
Some head teachers felt like they were 'letting down' children with significant needs because they were unable to provide adequate support services, the bishop continued.
He said it was a 'matter of extreme concern' that schools were choosing to cut back on special needs support in order to meet the constraints of their budgets.
Rural schools that have to offer higher pay in order to attract young, newly qualified teachers are having an even harder time, he added.
The bishop said that although cuts may be necessary, they should be done so in a way that does not compromise on the standard of education and support being offered to children.
'Anyone who has spoken to educators will know that there is a real struggle to make ends meet at present, which could well be described as a crisis,' he said.
'It is of course necessary and right that deficiencies should be pursued, but there is a real danger of perceived efficiency leading to deficiency.
'We should be looking to those setting the best examples when it comes to making cuts, to learn from best practice. At the same time, it is surely crucial to ensure that funding matches the needs of schools once sensible efficiencies have been made.
'Efficiency should not compromise the education of any child. I fear that that is now happening.'
