Government officials are desperate to downplay the absolute shambles that is the crumbling schools fiasco.
An additional 27 educational settings have been added to the list of those with confirmed cases of cheap and undurable reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), bringing the total to 174. Parents and campaigners are furious about the decades of incompetence and lack of care that has led to yet more missed school time, but Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said some children are actually happier because of the crisis.
After visiting a number of temporary classrooms this week, Ms. Keegan said:
I have been to a number of these schools, 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.
The comment, which is beyond laughable, has succeeded in prompting further frustration. Arabella Skinner, director of the child advocacy group UsForThem, responded that “the fact children prefer a Portakabin to their classroom is not something the education secretary should be proud of.” She told The European Conservative:
It sums up the lack of investment in our children and young people. Keegan should be presenting an immediate action plan to support our children’s education after years of disruption rather than making glib comments.
It is not Ms. Keegan’s first such comment. The secretary showed her colours during what she believed to be an off-camera burst of frustration earlier this month, decrying that no one was thanking her for doing “a f*****g good job ‘cause everyone else has sat on their a**e and done nothing.”
More cases of RAAC in schools are likely to be identified when the government next updates its list in a fortnight.
