Source: Telegraph >> Read full article and comment
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor
The equivalent of more than 2,000 new primary schools will be needed within the next eight years to cope with a massive increase in pupil numbers, figures suggest.
The projected rise is believed to be down to a sharp increase in birthrates combined with an influx of immigrants in some areas.
Many councils are already struggling to cope with a recent surge in school applications.
Local authorities in parts of London, the West Midlands and south-west of England were forced to install mobile classrooms and educate children in church halls last year because of a shortage of space.
In the capital alone, schools had a shortfall of around 2,250 places in 2009.
It is feared the pressure will grow significantly in coming years as the number of five-year-olds entering the state school system in England continues to grow.
Last year, MPs said that the extra pressure on primary places was a “direct result of mass immigration” into the UK.
The Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration said the number of births to foreign mothers increased by 64 per cent in the last eight years. At the same time, birthrates among UK families increased by only six per cent….Continue reading
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