BBC viewers have absolutely slammed last night’s episode of Countryfile for its special educational needs (SEN) report claiming it had “nothing” to do with the countryside.
Tom Heap presented the report which viewers dubbed as “too political” for the agriculture programme.
Margherita Taylor and Joe Crowley kicked off last night’s episode of Countryfile at Dumfries House as they took a closer look at the estate’s beautiful gardens and the rural skills centre there which has recently been opened by King Charles.
Much further south, Tom, 57, investigated how families are struggling to get the support they need for their children from rural schools.
Starting his investigation in Devon, he explained: “A lot of councils report issues with funding, especially in rural areas,” before meeting with Scott and Emily, the parents of ten-year-old Rupert who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder last year.
The couple has been struggling with his education because his school doesn’t have enough resources to meet his needs or give him a quieter space to learn it when the classroom setting becomes overwhelming.
Explaining the situation to Tom, Emily said: “I think a lot of people, were they not in a rural area, would perhaps move their child to a bigger school that has those provisions in place.
“However, because of where we live, we are stuck where we are with this school.
“As a family, it feels like our entire life has stopped. We have to put our needs on hold to fill in the gaps where the service isn’t meeting his needs.”
During the report, Tom spoke to the parent of another child, the head teacher of a local primary school and local Liberal Democrats MP Richard Ford, who took this issue to Parliament.
The report featured a clip of Richard speaking about SEN issues in the House of Commons.
Afterward, he told Tom the main issue affecting local schools is money.
“Here in rural areas, the money just simply doesn’t go as far,” the MP said.
Tom also took the time to explore the disparity of SEN funding between rural and urban schools, and the report included footage of urban protests on the issue.
Although less money is making it to rural schools, the lack of funding and resources is a problem affecting the whole of the UK.
Because of this, many Countryfile viewers felt the report was out of place on the farming and agriculture show.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one viewer asked: “Can we have something about the countryside, please?”
Another commented: “In my opinion, this has nothing to do with the countryside. Rather, it is giving a platform for privileged parents to make a political statement.”
“This isn’t just a problem in rural schools, but is a real concern in the majority of schools nationwide,” added a third.
“Countryfile should be called Politicalfile. Loads of BBC News c**p,” a fourth viewer criticised.
Slamming the show, a fifth viewer said: “I thought this was Countryfile? Seems to be another political programme.”
However, some viewers were happy to see the issue discussed in Countryfile. The report aimed to shed light on an important topic in the U.K. and tackled it from a countryside angle.
One praised: “Thank you BBC One for showing the national SEND crisis on Countryfile. Access to education, social & health care must stop being a postcode lottery.”
Countryfile continues on Sunday at 5.20pm on BBC One.
