'Mobile classrooms are damaging to pupils' education'

EDUCATION officials are keeping their fingers crossed ahead of a Westminster meeting that could transform some of the region's most dilapidated schools.

Brigg and Goole MP Ian Cawsey will meet Education, Schools And Families Minister Ed Balls in Westminster tomorrow, to discuss the the region's mobile classrooms.

North Lincolnshire has 18 schools with mobile classrooms and several headteachers have voiced their concerns over their inadequacies.

Tony Gosling, cabinet member for Children's Services at North Lincolnshire Council, said: "We have been liaising with Mr Cawsey and given him a presentation of our main concerns and priorities regarding the mobile classrooms.

"It's excellent that the education minister will be sitting down for a significant period of time and specifically talking about North Lincolnshire's schools.

"However, we have to be realistic. We're not the only region with these problems and any funding that is provided would have to incorporate these problems nationwide, so it won't be easy."

Since 2001, a total of 67 mobile classrooms have been replaced in North Lincolnshire through £29.3m of Government funding.

A total of 21 still need to be replaced.

Elizabeth Farrar, headteacher at Luddington and Garthorpe Primary School, said: "We'd much prefer to have a brick classroom as the mobiles just don't stand up to the test of time and wear down very badly and very quickly.

"This meeting is a welcome boost, as long as funding is properly provided, as a school like ours cannot afford to fund such improvements.

"I think any headteacher would tell you they'd rather get rid of the mobile classrooms, as long as provisions were already in place to properly replace them."

The Government revealed in June it would bring forward £939m in school capital funding to 121 local authorities from 2010-11 to 2009-10.

The cash will be spent on school buildings, information and communications technology and other capital items.

This money can be allocated only to schemes and projects that have been previously approved.

Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley had discussed the issues with Mr Cawsey ahead of the meeting, having witnessed the problems caused by temporary classrooms in his own constituency.

He said: "Having spoken to many headteachers about this, I think it is safe to say there is a consensus across the board that these classrooms need to be removed as quickly as possible.

"I'm optimistic about the meeting as I feel we already have momentum on our side. This government has done more to improve our classrooms in a few years than previous ones have done in decades.

"I'd like to have a target capital expenditure programme in place in the near future to alleviate this problem once and for all and I believe this meeting can go some way to achieving that."

Earlier this year, Mr Cawsey urged Mr Balls in the House Of Commons to help secure some capital funding to get rid of the temporary classrooms.

Ed Balls and Ian Cawsey were both unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.