Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has apologized for an outburst when she complained that she was not thanked enough for doing a very good job in tackling the problem of school buildings in England, which are potentially dangerous and at risk of collapse.

Authorities asked 104 schools to close all or some of their buildings as old and non-durable cement was found in them.

Keegan said the government was still waiting for a response from around 10% of the 15,000 schools in England that have been sent questionnaires to identify those in trouble. In said buildings it has been identified

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Cement (RAAC), a lightweight form of cement that was often used in walls, floors and ceilings from the 1960s to the 1980s. However, it is now considered weak and unsafe.

The revelations about the collapsing school buildingsjust days before the start of the new school year, have angered parents and teachers and are a new political headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

An outburst by the minister, caught on camera during an interview with ITV, may add fuel to the already sour mood towards the government.

In her outburst Keegan claimed that he has done much more than others to try to resolve the issue, specifically saying, “Does anyone ever say ‘you know what, you’re doing… a really good job, because everyone else was sitting around doing nothing?'” Keegan said, though using a vulgar expression. “No one talks about it.”

Keegan, Britain’s fifth education secretary in two years, later apologized for the “vocabulary” she used and said her comments were “unnecessary”.

Speaking on BBC radio, the minister said schools where RAAC is suspected to have been used will be inspected over the next two weeks. “Most will not contain RAAC,” he assured. “It could be hundreds more.”

However, most of the affected schools will be able to operate as normal, the British government said.

Increasing the pressure on the British prime minister, the former permanent secretary for education said that when he was finance minister Sunak halved the annual budget for school building repairs, when the agency had asked him to double the budget.

“We have pointed out that there is a serious risk to life if this program is not funded,” Jonathan Slater underlined. “I was surprised when I saw (…) the decision taken by the government.”

The opposition accused Sunak of “putting children’s lives at risk” while pointing out that he ignored repeated warnings about the collapsing schools.