Gillian Keegan has claimed pupils “petitioned” her to stay in portacabins because “they preferred them to the classroom” - as many have been forced into temporary facilities by the crumbling concrete crisis engulfing schools.
The number of schools found to contain dangerous crumbling concrete jumped on Tuesday to 174, with Raac found on 27 additional sites since the end of August.
MPs were told on Tuesday that Almost 250 temporary classrooms have been ordered to help schools in England affected by the Raac crisis.
And addressing parliament the education secretary said the portacabins some pupils are being taught in are “very, very high quality”.
Ms Keegan said: “I have been to a number of schools and seen children and met children in the portacabins.
“In the first school I went to the children were all petitioning me to stay in the portacabin because they actually preferred it to the classroom.”
The comments come just weeks after Ms Keegan apologised for saying others “have been sat on their a***s” and suggesting she had done “a f***ing good job” handling the growing crisis.
As the Department for Education (DfE) published the latest list of schools affected by Raac, it confirmed a total of 23 schools have been forced to adopt some degree of remote learning due to safety concerns over the concrete.
