Children and young people lose out when teachers' pay and conditions are attacked
Five years of attacks on every aspect of teachers working lives has created a teacher supply crisis, the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers union in the UK, has heard today.
Teachers at the Conference, which is being held in Cardiff, argued that the effect of nearly five years of pay freezes and real-terms pay cuts, coupled with attacks on teachers’ working conditions and professionalism, is driving current teachers out of the profession and deterring new ones from joining.
This is putting the provision of high-quality education for children and young people at risk, the Conference heard.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“An incoming government will need to recognise the scale of the problems the Coalition Government has created.
“Resignations are at an all-time high. Morale is at an all-time low.
“Teachers’ salaries are now uncompetitive with other graduate professions and attacks on professionalism, working conditions and pensions have made teaching unattractive.
“An incoming government will need to address these issues urgently if the entitlement to high-quality education for all children and young people is to be secured.”
