Natspec welcomes Gillian Keegan as Secretary of State for Education, the fifth in the last four months! Clare Howard, Natspec chief executive said:
“We are pleased to welcome Gillian Keegan to her new post. We know that her time as Skills Minister in 2020-21 and her personal background as an apprentice give her an important understanding of the FE sector.
She has already shown an interest in securing appropriate levels of funding for special educational needs and disabilities, and we look forward to working with her and her ministerial team to build a more inclusive FE system in which specialist and general FE colleges are better enabled to work together for the benefit of students with SEND.
Natspec has set out several policy priorities that will help tackle the systemic failures detailed in the SEND Green Paper and help colleges navigate their way through the current extremely challenging economic climate. Unless some of the issues identified, such as unsustainable energy and staffing costs, are addressed urgently, emergency closures are possible and future provision for this vulnerable group of young people will be threatened. There is much work to do. We urge the new Education Secretary to support these policies and work with us to help specialist FE colleges to deal with the immediate challenges and play their part in an inclusive FE system into the future.”
