NASUWT: Time for a limit on teachers’ working hours
|
A national contractual limit on teachers’ working time must be
introduced to tackle stress and burnout within the profession, the
NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has argued today. The Government’s
failure to tackle longer hours and unstainable workloads is
fuelling teacher shortages, with the consequent adverse impact on
pupils’ education, the Union has told TUC Congress in Liverpool.
From next week the NASUWT is beginning a programme of work to rule
industrial action...Request free trial
A national contractual limit on teachers’ working time must be introduced to tackle stress and burnout within the profession, the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has argued today. The Government’s failure to tackle longer hours and unstainable workloads is fuelling teacher shortages, with the consequent adverse impact on pupils’ education, the Union has told TUC Congress in Liverpool. From next week the NASUWT is beginning a programme of work to rule industrial action in schools across England in which NASUWT members will limit their working time. NASUWT research published earlier this year found that teachers report working on average 54 hours a week, with an average of 13 of these hours falling outside of the standard school day. 87% of teachers reported an increase in workload over the previous year, with 55% of these saying their workload had increased significantly. 83% of teachers said their mental health had declined over the previous 12 months as a result of their job, with workload far outstripping any other factor as the biggest driver of this decline. The NASUWT is calling for a contractual, enforceable limit on teachers’ working hours through a teachers’ contract which provides clear working time rights and entitlements, within the framework of a maximum 35 hour working week. Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said: “Workloads and working hours in teaching are simply unsustainable. They are driving teachers out of the profession, deterring new recruits and undermining teachers’ ability to give their best to the students they teach. “We are clear that if the Government will not act to meet its duty of care to the profession, we will.” Rashida Din, NASUWT Senior Vice-President, who supported the motion, said: “One in five new teachers leave the profession after their first two years. “Two-thirds of teachers say they spent over half of their time on tasks other than teaching. “The Government needs to wake up to the facts and commit to making improvements to the morale and health of its public sector workers.” ENDS Notes to editors TUC Congress is being held at the ACC in Liverpool from 10th-13th September. Details of the NASUWT’s Time for a Limit campaign and action short of strike action can be found at: https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/news/campaigns/time-for-a-limit.html A copy of the motion which was debated is below: C17 Education in the UK Congress is dismayed by the government’s failure to value publicly funded education, the steeply declining status in parts of the UK and the insufficiency of UK-wide investment. Over 13 years of Conservative rule education has lurched from one funding crisis to another; and one Education Secretary to the next. The abject failure to invest in the school workforce and estate has resulted in the worst recruitment and retention crisis, at all levels in the profession, since the 1944 Education Act. The lack of an overarching commitment and vision for high quality 21st century public education is having an increasingly detriment impact on pupils, schools and the communities they serve, blighting the life chances of children, particularly those from working class communities. Congress notes with sadness the complete lack of energy, enthusiasm and dynamism from a government that appears to have run out of ideas. Congress recognises that staff retention and recruitment is a particular challenge for the education and school sector. Congress notes the latest workforce survey by the Department for Education showing that 40,000 teachers resigned from state schools last year – almost 9 per cent of the teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011. Congress recognises that reducing the overall workload pressures on teaching staff, allowing them more time to focus on teaching and less time on administrative and other tasks, is a crucial to redressing the retention issue presently faced. Congress also notes the results of the government’s own ‘Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders’ survey, showing that:
iv Congress calls all political parties to once again make education central to their manifesto commitment in the run up to the next general election. Congress congratulates education unions for their joint work and solidarity which has already won additional pay and funding from government and commits further support in their continuing campaign for restoration of pay. Congress calls on the TUC to:
|