NASUWT comments on the DfE teacher workload survey
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK has responded to the publication of findings from the DfE Teacher Workload Survey 2016.
“The delay in the publication of data from the 2016 survey of teachers’ working hours cannot hide the inconvenient truth that the Government’s actions to date have failed to tackle the causes of excessive workload and working hours which are blighting the lives of teachers.
“Once again, the Government’s own data confirms that teachers and headteachers are dealing with unsustainable workload demands on a daily basis, and much of their time is being spent on activities which are either unnecessary or which could be undertaken by staff other than teachers.
“The education of children and young people will not be improved if teachers remain shackled to workload demands that are impossible to deliver.
“The Government’s own evidence confirms that the crisis in teacher retention and recruitment is a direct result of excessive workload coupled with real-terms cuts to teachers’ pay.
“More than 80% of teachers cite excessive workload as the main reason why they are seriously considering quitting the teaching profession.
“The Government now needs to take urgent action to address the deep concerns of teachers and to guarantee working conditions which will, once again, make teaching the profession of first choice for graduates.
“Ministers cannot continue to leave it to individual schools to devise solutions which will tackle the workload challenge in schools.
“Schools are already in the grip of the worst teacher recruitment and retention crisis since the second world war.
“A coherent Government–wide strategy is needed which secures effective downward pressure to the workload and working hours which are driving teachers and headteachers out of the profession.”
