Saskia's Story

Saskia, 29, from Peckham in London wanted to become a teacher in one of the country's most deprived areas. She had the qualifications and passion needed to work in schools crying out for staff. But when she applied for teacher training, she discovered that HM Treasury and the Department for Education had slashed bursaries for her subject, making training financially impossible. The classrooms were there. The graduates who wanted to teach were there. What was missing was the political decision to connect them. This episode explores how central government spending rules treat education like a business competing for scraps, rather than a public service that creates the teachers communities desperately need. *The guest's name has been changed.*