Fixing crumbling schools shows children they matter, writes Josh MacAlister MP

I taught citizenship – helping students understand their place in the world, their rights, their potential. But I also learnt that the space around learning matters just as much as what happens within it.

The classroom environment speaks to children before any lesson begins. Buildings held together with string and tape don’t show children they are valued – it tells them they aren’t worth investment and their future isn’t a priority.

That's why tackling our crumbling school estate isn't simply an infrastructure challenge – it’s imperative to show children that they matter.

Now, as a minister in the Department for Education, I am immensely proud that we are setting timelines for every school and college in the country to be free from dangerous RAAC.

By the end of this Parliament, every school and college in England that isn't undergoing complete or substantial reconstruction will be RAAC-free. For those requiring rebuilding, every project will have reached some stage of delivery.

We're already making progress. Sixty-two schools and colleges have had RAAC removed, securing safe learning environments for over 42,000 children. More than half of those requiring extensive reconstruction work have already begun their projects.

This isn't about construction schedules and building materials alone. Evidence tells us that children learning in deteriorating facilities achieve less academically. But the damage runs deeper than test scores.

The hour my stepfather Peter spent with me every evening doing extra reading, writing, and times tables after I'd struggled in primary school transformed my life. He showed me someone believed I was worth that investment. Years later, standing at the front of a classroom, I tried to give that same message to my students.

You can tell a young person they can achieve, but crumbling classrooms give a very different message. You can’t give children a first-rate education in second-rate buildings. It doesn't work. I saw it firsthand.

Especially for those students already facing enormous barriers, children in care, those with special educational needs, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who need school to be their anchor.

We are investing £38 billion in capital for education over five years - the highest annual levels since 2010 – tackling this issue head on.

And our decade-long Infrastructure Strategy, announced earlier this year, provides unprecedented long-term certainty. For the first time, we are providing long-term maintenance funding through to 2034-35, rising to almost £3 billion per year to improve the condition of our schools and colleges.

Plus 250 additional school rebuilds beyond the existing 500 in the programme, all designed as net zero carbon buildings that connect children with nature and withstand climate challenges.

Our investment tells students something every child needs to understand: your education is our priority, and as part of this government’s plan for national renewal, we're proving it with buildings that match our ambitions for your future.

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Josh MacAlister is the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington.

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