‘1000 glue sticks’ Twitter giveaway prompts ‘despair’ over state of education funding

Some Twitter users probably raised their eyebrows at first when they saw ‘1,000 glue sticks’ trending on the social media platform on Wednesday, but real reason as to why the unusual phrase was so popular on the social network has been described as a “sad indictment” on the state of schools funding in the UK.

Twinkl, a Sheffield-based company which provides online teaching and learning resources, teased a giveaway of the common school item on Tuesday, before sharing details of how to enter a day later.

With a closing date has yet to be announced, the competition follows on from Twinkl partnering with Santander to give away hundreds of ‘Antandec’-branded mugs – a nod to the bank’s recent marketing campaign featuring the Geordie presenting duo.

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Sharing details of the glue stick giveaway, the firm’s Twitter account wrote: “Is your school in need of glue sticks? Let us know by replying with ‘1000 glue sticks’ – there’s another big giveaway on its way! We help those who teach.”

The tweet was accompanied with the hashtag #TeachersStrike, in reference to members of the National Education Union walking out on Wednesday and Friday this week as part of an ongoing dispute over pay.

While many won’t say no to a good giveaway, others have noted that teachers pleading for free stationery for their schools is a pretty terrible sight in modern Britain:

In a piece for The Guardian in November, titled “Teachers, we are doing our best for schools. We don’t need the threat of strikes”, education secretary Gillian Keegan wrote the government is “funding schools fully”, “putting more into schools than ever before” and that the support it is providing is “significant”.

She said: “It recognises both the immense value of this profession and the challenges it is currently facing. Given that, I look forward to seeing a de-escalation from unions, many of which are balloting.”

Of course, said “de-escalation” hasn’t happened, and the Department for Education now finds itself in a sticky (sorry) situation.

“As a government we have listened and are continuing to listen,” Ms Keegan added.

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