FAIRER funding for Devon schools ? that is the message being pressed on new South West minister Ben Bradshaw this week. A dossier detailing how badly Devon?s schools are funded compared to the national average is being sent to Mr Bradshaw by Devon County Council and copied to every Devon MP, in a move backed by West Devon headteachers. Every primary and secondary pupil in Devon receives £337 less a year than the national average, which for an average secondary school with 1,000 students is the equivalent of ten extra teachers. The total shortfall for Devon?s schools is almost £32 million a year. The county?s campaign launch has been backed by the Devon Schools Forum, which is made up of heads, governors, parents and unions. Colin Eves, principal of Tavistock College, said the campaign was ?a good thing?. ?It is the case that comparative analysis has shown that Devon is one of the most poorly funded counties in Britain. ?It makes it more difficult to provide the resources and facilities the pupils need. It is difficult to see how they can fund at different levels when the needs are similar,? Mr Eaves said, pointing to the fact it was ?historic funding? that needed to be put right ?sooner rather than later?. Nick D?Agorne, headteacher at North Tawton Primary School, said a petition had been drawn up which was being sent to all headteachers who were members of the Devon Association of Primary Headteachers to sign. ?I?ve signed and urge other heads to. I feel quite strongly that Devon schools are nowhere near funded to what they should be,? he said. He added that the government had put a lot of money into schools and North Tawton now had a new hall, but pro rata, they were getting less money than other schools. His school received over £50,000 per year below the national average. ?There is no reason. We would like to take in more pupils but it would be overcrowded. If funding were fairer we could afford to employ another teacher, a teaching assistant and buy more books and other resources. ?It makes a mockery of the whole system if some counties have better funding than others and have a better teacher-pupil ratio,? said Mr D?Agorne. ?This has been an issue for the five years I have been head here and before that and nothing has been resolved. It is not often heads sign petitions.? John Smith, Devon?s County Council?s deputy leader, said: ?Our head teachers and school staff are doing a marvellous job in educating our youngsters. ?For example, Devon is 41st out of 150 local authorities for our primary school results at Key Stage 2, despite being funded at 144th out of 150. However, there is a limit to the results their dedication can achieve.? Mr Smith said they were ?not asking for Devon to be treated as a special case?. ?We are calling for Devon to be treated fairly and equably,? he said. Mr Smith said the biggest cost of running a school was the staff, and they had a national pay scale. Energy, books and equipment all cost roughly the same in Devon as anywhere else. ?While we recognise some urban areas need extra money to cope with the large scale deprivation, we don?t think the Government recognises the problems of rural areas sufficiently,? he said.
