P
ress releases| Save Our Schools! From the Leicester Mercury - 3rd December 2004 The council plan to invest in secondary schools. While £245 million is ato be welcomed, no mention is made that this is on the basis of a private finance initiative (PFI) which will give private companies a say in how children in Leicester are educated. The article also fails to mention how the project will ultimately be paid for. PFI schemes have proved to be poor value for money. In the NHS, a £400 million PFI scheme will provide just 56 extra beds, instead of the 376 originally proposed (see the web address below). It is surely more efficient for the Government to provide the money directly.Building Schools for the Future (BSF) will provide lots of nice new buildings, but this will mean a loss of experienced staff and place special needs children in units attached to mainstream schools where they will be at risk of bullying. The plans will deprive parents of the choice to send children to special schools. Six excellent special schools are being closed with a loss of specialist staff. By fighting these proposals, a group called Save Our Schools has ensured that special school provision for under-sevens will be safeguarded. We need to make the council aware of our opposition to their expensive, privately financed, Blairite pipedreams. For more information, visit: http://4glengate.net/archives/000193.html www.saveourschools.co.uk Andrew Walton, Leicester Socialist Party | |
Socialist Party to stand in Leicester West 21 January 2005 A socialist candidate has been selected to stand in Leicester West at the next general election. At a selection meeting yesterday, Leicester branch of the Socialist Party chose local campaigner Steve Score, to challenge Labour MP Patricia Hewitt. |
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