Em Londres ha falta de 256 000 lugares para alunos de Ensino Basico e Secundario.
http://news.sky.com/story/1109049/school-shortage-crisis-could-harm-education
A crisis is looming in primary schools across England
with predictions there will be a shortage of 250,000 classroom places in
the coming school year.
In the rush to provide enough school places, local councils may have to
make decisions that affect the quality of pupils' education, according
to a new report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
In areas facing a squeeze on places, and a lack of space, buildings
such as libraries or music rooms could be turned into classrooms to meet
the demand, it says.
The committee is the latest group to raise concerns about a lack of school places.
In March, a study by the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that by
September 2014, an estimated extra 256,000 primary and secondary school
places will be needed to meet demand.
Of these, 240,000 are required in primary schools, with more than a third (37%) needed in London alone.
The Department for Education has said it is spending £5bn by 2015 on
creating new school places, and that it expects 190,000 extra places
will have been created by September.
In its report, the PAC suggests there has been "little oversight" of
the impact decisions on how to create new places would have on
children's education.
"In the rush to deliver sufficient places, authorities may have to make
decisions that affect the quality of education on offer," it says.
"For example, in areas where there is pressure on school places and a
shortage of suitable land, authorities may have to convert communal
spaces and specialist areas (such as libraries or music rooms) into
classrooms.
"Some authorities may have no choice but to expand poorly performing schools, if places are required in that area."
The report criticises the Government for failing to fully understand
"the risks to children's learning and development that may arise as
authorities strain the sinews of the school estate to deliver enough
places".
It warns that the need to increase the number of school places should not be done at the expense of quality.
The report says that the DfE does not know whether it is achieving
value for money with the funding it provides to create new places, and
suggests the department was "slow to respond to the rising demand for
school places".
But the DfE has improved the way it targets money to areas where it is needed, the report adds.
It goes on to say that councils are not responsible for academies and
free schools as they fall under the DfE's remit, and that local
authorities must have "mature discussions" with everyone, including
these schools on how to meet demand for places.
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