Schools in Wales face a major crisis due to low pay and lack of funding and "would crumble overnight" if staff did not work extra hours for free, a head teacher has claimed. Lee Jarvis, head teacher at St Martin's School in Caerphilly, said schools in Wales were facing a "crisis of funding" which has left some on the verge of collapse.
Schools are falling victim to "sustained underfunding of our public services" which has left older school buildings "falling down" while others are only kept going because staff are working longer hours for no additional pay, Mr Jarvis said this week. Schools are also reportedly facing eyewatering increases in catering bills, energy costs, and the price of building repairs.
It comes after a new survey revealed most schools in Wales are considering making redundancies in order to save costs. The National Association of Headteachers Cymru (NAHT Cymru), surveyed 670 school leaders and found many are "desperate" to cut costs with 73% of head teachers surveyed saying they will have to make teaching assistants redundant or reduce their hours and 61% of head teachers saying they are looking to reduce the number of teachers or teaching hours to save cash.
