CREDIT: This story was first seen in Tes
Justine Greening has retained her post as education secretary, as prime minister Theresa May reshuffles her cabinet after losing her Commons majority, Tes reports.
Ahead of the election, there had been speculation that Ms Greening could be replaced by a more enthusiastic supporter of the prime minister’s plan to create new grammar schools.
Ms Greening retained her Putney seat in the election, but saw her majority of 10,180 reduced to 1,554.
She told reporters in Downing Street she was “very happy” to be carrying on in the role, and later tweeted that she was “delighted to be re-elected MP for Putney, Roehampton & Southfields, & to continue as SoS @educationgovuk & Minister for @WomenEqualities“.
The leaders of the NUT and NAHT teaching unions were both quick to welcome her re-appointment on Twitter, as was national schools commissioner Sir David Carter, who said it meant they could continue their work on school improvement and social mobility.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated this would represent a 2.8% cut in real terms per pupil funding over the course of the Parliament
The Conservative manifesto promised to create new grammar schools, and replace universal free school lunches for infants with free school breakfasts for all primary pupils.
Another key pledge was to increase the overall schools budget by £4bn by 2022, although the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated this would represent a 2.8% cut in real terms per pupil funding over the course of the Parliament.
Now the party has lost its Commons majority, it is not clear which promises it will attempt to implement, and a number of people took to Twitter to speculate that Ms Greening’s re-appointment signaled the end of the push to create more grammar schools.
Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs and a prominent supporter of grammar schools, said the party would have to “trim down our policies carefully to what we think Parliament will support”.
Teaching unions are attempting to maintain pressure on the government over school funding
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Politics, he said the government should look at a “rather modest sort of pilot looking at opening some state grammar schools in inner urban areas”.
Teaching unions are attempting to maintain pressure on the government over school funding, which emerged as a key election issue, demanding an urgent meeting with the prime minister to discuss it.
There are also a number of DfE consultations that are either on-going, or that the government has not yet responded to.
These include the EBacc, the national funding formula, primary assessment, and proposals to create new grammar schools, lift the faith cap on new faith schools and force universities and private schools to sponsor academies.
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