Schools short of Governors
October 25, 2008 12:00 AM
Far from people wanting to be governors of schools, figures obtained by Colchester MP Bob Russell reveal that across Essex the total number of vacancies is 640.
In Colchester the figure is 86 - 52 at Primary, 22 at Junior and 12 at Secondary Schools.
The figures came in a Written Answer to a Parliamentary Question by Mr Russell.
Across Essex as a whole there are 418 Governor vacancies at Primary schools, 115 at Junior and 107 at Secondary.
Liberal Democrat Mr Russell said the high level of vacancies showed the failure of Government policy to reduce the involvement of local councils in the strategic management of schools because of the claim that the general public is keen to come forward and take on positions of Governors of schools. "This is simply not borne out by the evidence - 640 vacancies is a huge number."
He added: "I suspect it is because the workland of a Governor nowadays is so demanding of people's time, particularly for the Chair of Governors, and that what was once an honourable voluntary position has turned into a huge time commitment. It is certainly far more time-consuming than when I was a Governor, at different times, of four schools including a decade as Chairman of two."
The Written Parliamentary Answer from Schools Minister Mr Jim Knight MP gives a breakdown of each category of Governor. This shows that across Essex there are 228 vacancies for Parent Governors, while the figure for Colchester is 28. Staff Governor vacancies are 93 and 14 respectively, while vacancies for Community Governors are 144 in Essex and 16 in Colchester. Other categories are defined as Local Education Authority (74 for Essex, and 12 for Colchester), Foundation (84 and 14), and Partnership (17 and 2).
Mr Russell said: "At a time when the Government, and here in Essex the County Council, wants to reduce democratic accountability and hand over the running of schools to others the evidence shows that even at the present level of involvement there is a huge shortage of people who have the time available to come forward. The big danger is that the further the Government moves away from democratic accountability then there will be an even smaller number who can volunteer."
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