EDUCATORS and campaigners called on Labour today to deliver for children and teachers by investing in education.

At a fringe meeting, NASUWT acting general secretary Matt Wrack highlighted profiteering in public education and how organisations and individuals have “used the fragmentation of our education system and the drift towards privatisation to make a lot of money for themselves.”

He said teachers were raising concerns about recruitment, retention and workload, while failures in “other areas of public life” such as youth service cuts were reflected in schools, leaving teachers to “pick up the pieces” of wider challenges.

“As a union, we unapologetically make the case that we need major, long-term, sustainable investment in education if we’re going to put right some of the challenges that we face,” he said.

Mr Wrack warned that education spending had fallen from 5.7 per cent of GDP in 2009-10 to 4.1 per cent today.

“If the share of national income going to education falls, you will face consequences,” he said. “And those consequences are faced every day in our schools.”

He urged Labour to eliminate waste and profiteering, directing resources into schools “where they are needed.”