School place fears

MEP Paul Nuttall has pointed out that the announcement that half of all primary schools in the UK are over-subscribed comes in the wake of a news report in Poland showing that around 1,000 schools there are at risk of closure due to under-subscription.

The report from Polskie Radio says that around 1,000 Polish schools, the majority at primary level, are being forced to close due to falling class numbers. Today the Local Government Association reveals that half of English primary schools, also around 1,000, will be oversubscribed by 2015.

Antoni Jezowski from Poland's Institute of Educational Research (IBO) admits that the Polish figures are as a result of an ongoing demographic plunge.

Mr Nuttall, UKIP deputy leader, said the comparison is not "an entirely direct correlation but absolutely must be taken as more than coincidence".

“We’ve been saying for years that the free movement of people simply cannot and will not work. There is never going to be an even number of people migrating between countries when there are stark economic and social differences.

"In the UK we have been on the receiving end for a large amount of EU migration, and immigration from further afield. The end result is that our kids are suffering in overcrowded classrooms, with the quality of teaching being obstructed by the vast spread of languages that the teacher has to be able to manage.

“This isn’t about who and where from, this is about basic numbers and EU free movement of people simply not working. But it’s not just Britain suffering. Countries such as Poland need to retain and develop their future workforce if they are not going to become the wasteland of Europe.

"The end result will be everybody trying to cram themselves into a little island across the channel, without enough schools, housing and doctors to go around, while in the east, industries will struggle to find workers and whole conurbations will become like ghost towns,” said Mr Nuttall, Euro-MP for the North West.

“It is reported that the population of Poland will fall by around 10 million in the next 35 to 40 years, that’s around a quarter of the population, while the UK population is continuing to rise at a level that is totally unsustainable.

"These stark findings regarding school closures in Poland and school overcrowding in the UK is the thin end of the wedge and a very clear indicator of what is to come unless we implement a sensible migration policy.

"The over-subscription to our schools is also said to be result from rising birth rates and it is worth noting that birth rates here are higher among non-UK born women," he added.