Fury as BBC claims school austerity is so bad headteacher has to clean toilets – even though she’s just had £10k pay hike
BBC bosses were today accused of swallowing pro-Corbyn propaganda after claiming a teacher has been forced to clean the toilets in her school. Siobhan Lowe told the Beeb her school is so cash-strapped she can’t afford to hire enough cleaners. But the corporation failed to mention that the cleaning budget actually soared by 90 per […]
BBC bosses were today accused of swallowing pro-Corbyn propaganda after claiming a teacher has been forced to clean the toilets in her school.
Siobhan Lowe told the Beeb her school is so cash-strapped she can’t afford to hire enough cleaners.
But the corporation failed to mention that the cleaning budget actually soared by 90 per cent – while the headteacher was handed a £10,000 pay rise.
Furious critics said the BBC should launch an urgent probe into the blunder amid fears it seriously misled viewers.
Ms Lowe, the head of Tolworth Girls’ School in South London, was interviewed on Radio 4 and online earlier this month.
She told the BBC she’d made massive cuts thanks to a shortfall in funding from the Government.
The headteacher added: “I personally have cleaned the school, washed the toilets, served in the school canteen.”
But official accounts show the school’s cleaning budget nearly doubled from £30,000 to £57,000 in the year 2017-18.
And Ms Lowe’s own salary rose by at least £10,000, reaching a total of £125-130,000.
BEEB BLAST
Tory MP Nigel Evans accused the BBC of not setting out the true situation.
He told The Sun: “It does seem as if the BBC are being spoonfed selective information and not presenting the full truth.
“It is damaging the reputation and influence of the BBC when they become a propaganda tool of any particular stance.
“They really need now to have an investigation into how this happened.”
Andrew Bridgen added: “It’s misleading its viewers.”
One Government source claimed leftie teachers were “constantly spouting Corbynista rubbish” by exaggerating the extent of cuts.
A BBC spokesman defended the coverage, saying: “Siobhan Lowe was interviewed as part of a wider news story about 7,000 head teachers across England writing to parents to warn schools are facing a funding crisis.
“In the interview Siobhan asserted she had cleaned the school toilets herself. She was questioned on this and pressed a number of times on whether there really is a cash shortage, which she strongly argued there is.
“We are confident this interview complies with our editorial guidelines.”
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Ms Lowe said the increased cash for cleaning and her own salary were linked to an increase in the size of the school.
She told The Sun: “The pupil population of the school has increased significantly and the school estate has increased significantly since 2017.”
Official figures suggest the school had fewer pupils in 2018 than the year before.
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