EDUCATION FIGURES HIGHLIGHT FUNDING GAP IN CORNWALL

10.00.00am GMT Thu 15th Jan 2009

Commenting on today's official figures that show an average of 44 per cent of pupils in Cornwall left school with five good GCSEs, Julia Goldsworthy MP said:

"Teachers across the local education authority in Cornwall work very hard to provide a high standard of education to students.

"They do so despite the fact that every school student in the county receives hundreds of pounds per year less in funding than the national average, despite being one of the most deprived counties in the country. Consecutive governments have underfunded education in Cornwall, and it's a funding gap that is still set to widen.

"The government need to give students in Cornwall a fair deal on funding, so that their education can be as well resourced as elsewhere. A pupil premium would ensure that support gets to the individuals that need it most - at the moment pupils in deprived rural areas don't get a look in.

"Instead of endless gimmicks, and naming and shaming the areas struggling the most, the government needs to own up to the fact that rural areas have been left behind and give them the funding support that they need to improve standards."