Parents angered by budget cuts to schools have organised rallies around the country funded by the Fair Funds to All Schools Campaign.
Last weekend parents, children and teachers gathered with placards and drums in St Peters Square to protest the 8% cut in school budgets under the proposed fair funding formula.
Chris Ayton, Moss Side primary school teacher, said: “We are at crisis point already…the amount of hours I work can be anything from ten to twelve hours a day already and these cuts, for those staff left in schools, will add an extra five hours a week.
“Without further funding we aren’t going to be able to afford the extra-curricular support kids need and it’s going to have a devastating effect on every single pupil throughout the country.”
Despite the rain over a hundred people joined the rally to show their solidarity with chanting and speeches from supporters including Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Reclaiming Schools, a network of researchers at over 20 universities, claim a quarter of teachers already work more than 60 hours a week and that one in four teachers quit within three years due to the stress.
This problem could escalate as according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) there is not enough investment in schools to cover inflation, the rise in employment costs and the increase in the number of students enrolling.
The government argues that despite the proposed cuts schools in Manchester will still be one of the highest funded areas outside the capital.
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