A 16-YEAR-OLD politics enthusiast has written a scathing letter over the state of the education system, claiming his MP had “let down” the children of his constituency.

Ruari McDonald from Mawgan, who has just completed his GCSEs at Mullion School, said in the last two years he had seen experienced teachers leave, trips and clubs scaled down and the IT department cut back so far that his year group was unable to choose ICT as an exam option. 

Speaking to the Packet, he said: “It seems to me that the cuts and teachers resigning, there may be a corelation between the two.” 

He added that while the school had just been able to get some of these facilities back, this was “only because our most loved and experienced teachers took early retirement.”

Ruari, who said he had always had an interest in politics, particularly since the last General Election, laid part of this blame with West Cornwall’s MP Derek Thomas.

In his open letter, Ruari wrote: “Derek Thomas has let down the children and families of his constituency by not fighting for our education. Instead he has let the Government cut more and more out of learning and training in Cornwall and refused to do anything about it.

 “Cornish schools have had huge cuts to their budgets over the last two years.”

Expanding on this claim, he said it was his belief Mr Thomas had not done enough to fight the cuts, as far as he was aware.

However, Mr Thomas has denied ever receiving a letter from Ruari, and claimed it could be a campaign tactic by poitical opponents.

He told the Packet: "I'd be surprised if this is a genuine letter. I'm not aware of letters that I've received that have not been replied to. It sounds like a clever campaign by my opposition."

He also provided his standard response to questions about schools and school funding, including that the majority of schools in the constituency are rated Good or Outstanding "due to the hard work and determination of teaching staff and their headteachers," although he accepts that education funding "has not kept up with increases in costs."

He said: "I have visited almost all the schools in west Cornwall and Scilly since being elected in 2015 and have been impressed by the work and enthusiasm of the children and staff. I have been concerned that they do not get enough support.

"In February I invited the Education Minister, Nick Gibb MP to west Cornwall to meet with teaching staff and headteachers and to hear first-hand how the pressures on finances would affect their schools. The minister explained the challenge of providing enough money against a backdrop of national debt and clearly understood the challenges our headteachers face (this was the third opportunity that I have created for teaching staff to make their views known directly to government education ministers).

"I have been working hard to make sure that this issue remains a priority for the Government, raising these concerns with the Education Minister, Justine Greening MP and asking the Chancellor in the chamber: 'What message can I take back to my schools who tell me they cannot maintain these standards if school funding does not keep up with increased costs?'"

Mr Thomas also claimed to have "argued for a fair funding formula for public services," but said "staunch resistance from urban MPs" meant underfunded schools in Cornwall "do not see the increases they expected" and he had called for more money.

He added: "Please be assured that I take the education of our children very seriously and recognise the good work that teachers do across west Cornwall. I am in regular contact with our local schools in order to support them, and to be aware of the concerns they have."