Teaching associations and unions have responded to proposed budget cuts in schools and colleges by suggestion strike action may be taken. Many are outraged at the move by the government and have threatened to strike for indefinite durations.

The drop in funding came after a record number of students decided to apply for higher education programs, far more than the goverment predicted. Rather than commend the schools for encouraging more young people to head on to college, the government have instead said that they will have to make up a £200m shortfall.  This will likely put the future of as many as 50,000 young adults in jeopardy, lead to a cut in school bursaries, and will mean that many will have to look for paid work instead. This is what is concerning lots of people in the sector, especially given the weak job market currently.

The National Union of Teachers have spoken out and called the cuts “an absolute disgrace”. They say that it is completely irresponsible to do such as thing and will just lead to another ‘lost generation’ much the same as the school leavers in the 1980s. “This would not happen in independent or indeed boarding schools and should not happen in the state system” they said. The cut came about from a miscalculation over the percentage of students staying in sixth-forms, colleges and further training courses. Educational institutions have therefore received less funding than they had first thought they might get and will likely have to fill the gap by cutting courses and possibly teachers jobs.The NUT annual conference in Wales is where the issue was first addressed and lots of speakers voted for strikes at the educational institutions that were affected

The Schools Secretary, Ed Balls has admitted that schools do face a very real problem currently in terms of providing funding for those who wish to continue education. He has suggested that the reason so many more teenagers are wanting to continue with education is because those that leave are having difficultly finding a job in this economic downturn. He argues that their are lots of students who are unwilling to enter the uncertain job market right now and would rather stay in education until the storm blows over