TEACHING and school leadership unions have joined together in a statement to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), warning the Government risks undermining teaching standards due to a real terms reduction in funding and the continued erosion of teachers’ pay.
Unions representing the full spectrum of the teaching profession in England and Wales are opposed to the Government’s wish to continue to limit teachers’ annual pay increases to an average of 1% for a further four years, following five years of imposed pay restraint.
Unions, including UCAC, the NUT and NAHT have submitted a joint document to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) which makes the following points:
· We are facing a national crisis in number of teachers and as pay and prospects improve in comparable occupations, further pressure will be placed on recruitment and retention. The STRB must accept that we are facing a national crisis, not “a challenge” in teacher supply, which means more children will not be taught by teachers qualified in the subject they teach. DfE data has failed to capture the scale of the crisis.
· School budgets are at breaking point. Schools are facing real terms cuts in funding, at a point when an overall funding increase is needed. Schools are under insurmountable pressure to maintain current spending, let alone afford pay increases or other forecast increases in costs such as national insurance increases coming in from April. The Government must fully fund the necessary pay increases for teachers and school leaders in both England and Wales.
· Teachers are an investment, not a cost. Teachers need a pay rise. The public sector pay policy of the past five years has depressed teachers’ real earnings to the extent that recruitment and retention are being seriously harmed. We are asking the STRB to recommend a fair pay award for teachers for the highly skilled, important jobs that they do. A significant pay increase is needed for teachers at all stages of their careers so we can ensure there are enough teachers for the number of pupils.
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: “The numbers applying for initial teacher training are rapidly declining and more teachers left the profession last year than in any previous year, so unless teachers get a significant pay rise schools will have to start increasing class sizes or shutting courses and cutting the subject options available to pupils.”
Something which is shortly to become a fact of life in both Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.
Elaine Edwards, UCAC’s general secretary, said: “The Government must invest more in education funding and fund fully a pay rise for teachers. Teachers need a proper pay rise – more than the 1% average suggested by the Government. Pay freezes and below inflation increases have contributed to a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention. The Government needs to reconsider its pay policies for the sake our children and young people and the education system as a whole.”
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: “Years of pay restraint are now extracting their toll. High standards require great teachers; this is an investment in our future not a short term cost to the country. And competitive salaries that match other graduate professions must be funded appropriately by the government when it sets school budgets.”
Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: “No amount of misleading advertising which claims that great teachers can earn £65k can cover up the basic pay problems. It is quite clear that unless teachers’ salaries reflect the work they do this is a situation that will only get worse, with disastrous consequences for education and pupils.”
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