Soaring number of schools fall into debt

The scale of the funding crisis in London schools is exposed today.

The number of schools in the red quadrupled in one borough, and doubled or trebled in many others. Headteachers now face a long struggle to make up the shortfalls, leading to cutbacks in staffing, equipment and books.

Local authorities say pupils are bearing the brunt of the cuts as plans for new facilities are put on hold. The extent of the problem emerged in figures released by the Department of Education. They reveal that a total of 344 schools in the capital were in the red last year - the latest year for which figures are available - compared to 302 the previous year.

The number of schools in financial trouble rose in two-thirds of boroughs - doubling, or more than doubling, in 10 boroughs.

Worst affected boroughs were Croydon, where the number of schools in the red rose from two in 2001/2 to nine in 2002/3; Islington, where the number of schools in deficit rose from two to seven; and Camden and Richmond, where the figure trebled, from two to six in both cases.

The situation is so serious that the Department of Education has been forced to bail out 19 of London's 33 local education authorities this year with a " transitional grant" totalling almost ?33 million.

A new UK-wide funding package will also give schools budget rises of at least four per cent per pupil, with average increases of six per cent for those based in London.

A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers said: "Schools are still suffering and it is those in areas where fundraising is difficult that are hit the worst.

"If they don't have enough money, they end up having to cut staff and hold back on purchases of new equipment and books. The sort of thing that is affected is new computer suites."

The National Union of Teachers claims almost 2,000 teachers were made redundant in Britain last year.

The situation became so serious in Croydon at the height of the crisis that one school, Edenham High, was forced to send all 700 pupils home one afternoon because it could not afford to pay supply teachers to cover for absent staff. The school funding crisis came to a head in London last year because of huge rises in pension costs, changes in the way government funding was allocated, and a new deal giving teachers more time away from the classroom.