Labor accuses government of starting to 'neglect' schools, leading to buildings collapsing

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Labour has accused Michael Gove of being behind the 'negligence' of schools which led to the collapse of the concrete crisis.

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has slammed Mr Gove's decision to scrap the Labor government's latest school building scheme, saying it was 'the death knell for the ambition of our children.

The decision was “the first sign of neglect to come”, she writes in an article for the Independent in which she also accuses ministers of having “no strategy” to ensure that the school sites are "in good condition". scratch".

More than 100 schools in England have been ordered to immediately close classrooms and buildings for safety reasons.

This figure could increase as that ministers are rushing to assess schools across the country for a type of concrete described as "80% air" and which has been compared to an Aero chocolate bar.

The news has thrown the annual back-to-school season into chaos for many and means thousands of students could start the new school year learning online or in temporary accommodation.

In the article, Ms Phillipson said that the Conservatives' “incompetence” was in “keeping the kids at home”.

Two years after elementary school children returned to class for a single day before being sent home in January 2021, Ms Phillipson said parents would “understandably have a sense of deja vu”.

She accused ministers of “telling parents and children to be quiet and ask themselves if their school is affected” by refusing to publish a full list of the sites involved.

As pressure mounts on the Education Secretary to explain why the urgent order to close classrooms was given just days before the start of the new school year, Mr Phillipson writes that “alarm bells” should have been ringing years ago. .

“Ministers have been aware of these risks for years but have done nothing. In 2018, the roof of Singlewell Primary School in Kent collapsed suddenly and without warning from the same crackling, crumbly concrete that shuts down schools today. Fortunately, this accident happened on a weekend, but it should have been a wake-up call, a wake-up call that would spur action.

She adds: "In recent days Tory ministers have filled the columns urging parents to send their children back to school, but they are now the reason more children will be spending more time at home.

The Labor program to build schools for the future was controversially abandoned by then Education Secretary Mr Gove in July 2010.

At the time, he told parliament that the program had been cha...