Geoffrey Cox, MP for Torridge & West Devon, recently visited

local schools to meet Headteachers, teaching staff, and governors to be

briefed on their progress.

The MP was dismayed to learn that due to changes in funding allowances,

schools now have to pay up to £8,000 per year for their broadband

internet package out of their own capital. In the past, schools were

given a grant through their local authority, which they could use to

cover the cost of broadband. However, the rules have now changed and

mean that schools will not receive a specific grant to pay for the cost

of broadband and are currently unable to use money earmarked by the

government for provide for computer hardware (the Harnessing Technology

Grant) to do so.

To make matters worse, the majority of schools had already set their

three-year budget plans before finding out in May that they would now

have to factor in an extra £4,000 to £8,000 cost per year for

broadband, leaving many with serious budget deficits.

Geoffrey Cox said “The cost for a small rural school is likely to be

around £6,000 per year - the equivalent of a part-time teaching

assistant. Unfortunately, it is clear that in many cases there will

have to be reductions in teaching staff because school budgets are

already severely overstretched. This blow to local schools further

accentuates the financial disadvantage of Devon schoolchildren who

receive £410 less in government funding than the average English pupil.

The additional cost of broadband is clearly another severe blow to

rural education”.

The MP has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Ed

Balls, urging him to amend the rules to allow schools to use the

Harnessing Technology Grant money to pay for Broadband.

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jepoirrier/440149090/