PARENTS have become increasingly frustrated by the way the Government seems to have been passing the buck when it comes to the problems in funding our schools.

Today, their puzzlement is likely to increase with the news that a survey of Worcestershire schools has revealed that a quarter are considering axing teaching jobs and a third are set to leave vacancies unfilled.

That's in addition to 100 teachers that the survey, by the Worcestershire Headteachers' Forum, suggests have left the county for jobs in Birmingham, Warwickshire and Glou-cestershire.

Such figures will cause cynics to wonder what Labour meant when it put education at the heart of its General Election campaigns in 1997 and 2001.

Certainly, the Government has aimed to funnel many extra millions of pounds into our schools. But have the politicians forgotten that without teachers - and high-quality, well-paid ones, at that - there are no schools?

Back in 1991 the Government claimed it would take on a further 10,000 teachers. The then Education Secretary, Estelle Morris - a woman who was later to leave the job because of the pressure - said "there needs to be a real transformation in secondary schools". And Tony Blair's mantra "education, education, education" continued to ring in our ears.

Now, citys MP Mike Foster wants to talk to Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford to secure an extra £10m for Worcestershire schools. Time marches on, so the sooner that happens, the better.