Crisis in Secondary School Places Continues

10.59.20am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 14th Mar 2006

Haringey Liberal Democrat Councillors are repeating warnings of an impeding crisis due to the chronic shortfall of secondary school places available to the children of Haringey. Some 189 children have not received an offer of a place at a secondary school in the borough, and the number of places compared to the number of applicants is becoming increasingly worrying.

A total of 1080 children applied to Alexandra Park School, of whom just 216 were successful in gaining a place. Fortismere School attracted even more applicants - some 1130 applicants were competing for only 243 places. Parents were asked to list six schools in order of preference - 189 pupils were left without a place at any of their six choices.[1]

Councillor Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, comments: "Haringey Council need to take action to solve this crisis. There is an acute lack of school places in the borough, and the problem is getting worse every year. We warned last year that this problem would only get worse as more and more children come through the primary school system, and Haringey have done nothing to address the problem."

Councillor Lynne Featherstone MP comments: "Haringey Council's record on education planning is just not good enough. Their whole approach is reactionary - to fix the holes that appear in the system and then do nothing until the next crisis. This approach is unacceptable - this is our children's future at stake. We must begin to put in place a long-term strategy to ensure our young people get the quality of education that they deserve."

ENDS

[1] Figures from a London Borough of Haringey response to a Councillor's Member's Enquiry, correct at 1st March 2006