By Josh MacAlister

As a former teacher, I spent years standing in front of young people in Oldham classrooms.

I taught citizenship – helping students understand their place in the world, their rights, their potential. But I also learnt that the space around learning matters just as much as what happens within it.

The classroom environment speaks to children before any lesson begins. Buildings held together with string and tape don’t show children they are valued – it tells them they aren’t worth investment and their future isn’t a priority.

That's why tackling our crumbling school estate isn't simply an infrastructure challenge – it’s imperative to show children that they matter.

Now, as a minister in the Department for Education, I am immensely proud that we are setting timelines for every school and college in the country to be free from dangerous RAAC.

By the end of........

© LBC