A HUGE rally to protest against cuts to school funding was due to take place outside Parliament today with a large contingent of staff and parents from south Essex set to express their concerns.

The National Union of Teachers claims recently announced extra funding for schools under a new Schools National Funding Formula will in fact leave the majority of schools worse off.

The union claims 41 out of 46 Southend Schools will be worse of in real terms by 2020.

The borough will see cuts of £6.5million or £301 per pupil in that time. Essex schools are said to also be worse off with 437 out 517 county schools losing out. The union says they are set to lose £32.4million with each pupil losing £185.

Jerry Glazier, general secretary, Essex division NUT Section, said: “We are still extremely concerned about the amount of money announced which is still wholly inadequate to meet the needs of schools going forward.

“These cuts are on top of the cuts we’ve already had to make which are impacting on replacing staff and maintaining a broad curriculum as well as recruitment and the use of support staff.”

Headteachers and unions will be asking MPs to join them in demanding that the Chancellor releases more funds for our schools “to ensure every child and young person gets the education they deserve”.

The union says the recently announced £1.3billion funding over two years for schools falls far short of the amount needed to reverse the £2.8billion real terms cuts that schools have suffered since the 2015.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary, Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We welcome the Education Secretary’s commitment to a new formula to address the postcode lottery in school funding.

“But slicing up the cake more evenly cannot disguise the fact that the cake is not big enough in the first place.”