Harrow loses out in school state funding
Published 9th January 08
NEW figures, which reveal Harrow trails other London boroughs in education funding by up to £2,000 per pupil have been described as "outrageous" by the council's head of education.
Councillor Christine Bednell, portfolio holder for schools and children's development, spoke as the Government published fresh statistics on state school funding over the next three years.
Harrow will receive £4,507 per pupil for 2008/9, with that figure rising to £4,862 by 2010/11. By contrast 20 other London boroughs are better funded, with Tower Hamlets receiving £6,289 per pupil - that figure rising to just under £7,000 in three years time.
Harrow remains one of the worst funded boroughs for education despite being one of the best performing. The borough is home to 67 state schools.
Cllr Bednell said: "This is yet another example of Harrow coming bottom of the pile. "Harrow Schools perform well but we're then told we don't need any more money because of that - it is outrageous. If we had more money, we could perform even better. "
Other London boroughs have large ethnic populations but they tend to be mainly from one community. In Harrow we have a diverse population from a number of areas, and catering for their educational needs has a cost to it."
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