19 September 2023 , 14:40
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Under-fire Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has claimed kids prefer being taught in temporary classrooms as more schools were revealed to have dangerous concrete.
Thousands of students face having lessons in temporary classrooms after an extra 27 sites were identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Ms Keegan bizarrely attempted to defend the disruption as she was grilled by MPs in the Commons. "I have been to a number of these schools and seen children and met children in the Portakabins, and in fact at the first school I went to the children were all petitioning me to stay in the Portakabin because they actually preferred it to the classroom," she said.
As Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson shouted from the Labour frontbench, Ms Keegan insisted: "The Portakabins are very high quality and I would advise her to go and see some of the high quality Portakabins that we have, and that is true." Ms Phillipson blasted the Education Secretary as she warned there could be “years stretching ahead of our children sitting under steel girders”.
Gillian Keegan bizarrely attempted to defend pupils being forced out of their classrooms (parliamentlive.tv)A top Department for Education official this morning admitted that 248 temporary classrooms have been ordered by at least 29 schools. Around 6,500 children face being taught in temporary buildings, if an average primary school class has 27 children and most of the affected schools are primaries.
Schools could be waiting months for temporary classrooms to be delivered, with cranes needed to get them in place, the Commons Education Select Committee heard. There are also concerns about how long it will take to organise critical infrastructure such as electric, gas and plumbing.
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Schools Minister Baroness Barran insisted temporary classrooms "tend to be extremely high quality and high specification". Asked about long term plans to tackle RAAC, she explained there was the "practical" element to focus on first which included "trying to get the mitigation in place so the school can function a bit more closer to normally".
"Then of course the next urgent thing is to look at the long term solution but we need to sort stage one first," Baroness Barran added. "We're not kicking it down the road and we can start to talk about how we will approach that on Monday but we do need to sort the first job first."
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned 'years stretching ahead of our children sitting under steel girders' (parliamentlive.tv)An updated list published by the DfE revealed 174 schools and colleges in England have been identified as having RAAC in their buildings. This is an increase of 27 since an initial list was published a fortnight ago. New schools where the dodgy concrete has been found include Stepney All Saints Church of England Secondary School where all pupils are now having to learn remotely. There are a further 23 schools that are having to use some remote learning as of September, 14. Other schools that have been found in the past fortnight to have RAAC, but remain open, include Basildon Church of England Primary School, Farnborough Technology College and Grantham College.
Gaffe-prone Ms Keegan again got herself in hot water at the start of the month after she was caught moaning that she had done a "f***ing good job" on crumbling schools while others “have been sat on their a***s” in a hot mic gaffe. She was then forced to clarify her remarks in a wince-inducing clip as pressure continued to pile on the Government over the failure to remove ageing lightweight concrete from school buildings.
Speaking before the camera and mic were turned off, she said: "Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a***s and done nothing? No signs of that, no?" She later apologised for her "choice language" and said it was an "off-the-cuff remark". She also refused to say who she believed was "sat on their a***". Ms Keegan said: "I wasn't really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary."
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