By Tim Murgatroyd

When is an education crisis NOT a crisis? That question isn’t some abstract examination task for students scribbling away to gain a qualification. In fact, it is real and urgent in our city.

Is it just me who believes our education system is facing an unprecedented crisis over the next few years?

First, let’s look at the numbers. According to official statistics from the Department for Education (DfE) a tsunami of cutbacks is heading towards our schools. A wave that will wash away educational opportunities we have enjoyed for generations.

In the City of York alone, the DfE predict a £6.24 million reduction in education budgets by 2020. That adds up to a staggering £288 per pupil or 167 teachers.

But this isn’t just a problem for the future. Anyone working in the education sector will tell you school buildings are in a shocking state of disrepair. According to the National Audit Office a whopping £6.7 billion is required to bring existing school buildings in England and Wales to a satisfactory standard.

Naturally, York shares this problem. Many of the existing council-run schools and new academy trusts set up in the city in recent years face mounting disrepair issues they simply cannot fund.

But a healthy education system is only partly based on buildings and equipment. The real asset is always – and always has been – a well-trained, qualified body of teachers with high morale and sufficient resources to do their job properly.

York Press:

RIGHT TO KNOW: all our children deserve the very best possible education

Sadly, we are faced with a crisis of teacher retention and morale. At present more teachers leave the profession each year than join it, driven out by rising class sizes, reduced planning time and a huge workload both at work and home, dominating their evenings and weekends. As a result schools have been forced to hire more unqualified teachers in vital subject areas.

Many teachers are also demoralised by a system that doesn’t value creative subjects like music, art and drama, even though decades of research has proved their worth in shaping healthy young minds. It seems only children with parents wealthy enough to pay private school fees are to be allowed a broad arts education.

We’re all familiar with the usual justifications for cutbacks in vital public services. That the education system and NHS must be trimmed severely or privatised for the good of the whole nation.

How the previous Conservative and Lib-Dem coalition argued austerity would somehow “balance the books” after the 2008 banking crash and lead to a “strong economy”.

In fact, the Government’s answer to the education crisis is confused. Last week alone a hard-hitting report by a cross-party committee of senior MPs (most of whom, ironically, are Conservative MPs) accused the Department for Education of squandering billions of pounds on free schools, often in areas where they are not needed.

Huge amounts of taxpayers’ money is diverted to buy over-priced land for new free school buildings, money which would be better spent developing our existing comprehensive schools and cutting class sizes.

Many of these new free schools are destined to be selective grammar school,s creaming off a small percentage of students in a given area at the age of eleven.

Theresa May claims this represents choice for parents.

However, national statistics prove that grammars do not reduce inequality of opportunity in our education system, with only three per cent of pupils at selective schools coming from poorer families.

Heading back to the 1930s is not a measure that will help all children, only a privileged few.

Is it just me who thinks we should not allow our education system to drown for lack of funding? A system with huge potential nurtured and paid for by generations of taxpayers.

You get one shot at education as a child and it determines all your future opportunities. Education is more than just about preparing for the world of work. It is also about a love of learning for its own sake and a passion for culture that enriches every day of your life. We should not forget that..