Commenting on the shadow education secretary’s speech at the
Labour Party Conference, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary
of the National Education Union, said:
“Labour politicians are recognising that a re-set between the
teaching profession and Government is required - and that very
little of national Government ambitions can be achieved without
working with, and in partnership, with teachers.
"It should go without saying that programmes of educational
improvement should recognise and support teachers' expertise and
build on the successes of the teaching profession. We welcome the
focus today about the importance of early education and getting
good foundations for young children. But this will require
grappling with the funding issues and putting nursery schools on
a sure footing. Numeracy skills are really important skills
for life and it makes more sense to focus on numeracy skills in
primary.
"We recommend that Labour's promised review of curriculum and
assessment should be rounded and forward looking, rather than a
series of subject-by-subject attempts at reform. The NEU hopes to
see Labour setting out the goals for its review and to be part of
sector-wide discussion of them.
"Looking to support and extend Further Education colleges, often
over-looked, is sensible. Labour seem genuinely determined to
deliver on the skills challenge, which will need local government
working alongside local employers to meet the demand for improved
skills training. A review of the national curriculum and what is
assessed could achieve the much-needed rebalancing between
skills, competencies and knowledge.
“Any new administration is going to need the right mix of
qualifications and motivating pathways at 14-19 to give
opportunities to all students, including those with SEND and
those eligible for pupil premium.
“What is abundantly clear is that to maintain educational quality
or get a step-change on pupil attendance and well-being will need
adequate funding. High and rising standards will need more
teachers and more time for teachers to focus on the core
responsibilities of teaching and strong relationships with
students. Current surveys show individual pupil needs is the top
trend contributing to the work intensity of teachers. The
recruitment and retention challenge simply must be solved - and
this means making teaching, and the leading of schools in these
times much more attractive. We had hoped to hear more today on a
medium-term plan to restore pay to competitive levels and to work
our way back towards the OECD target of 5% of GDP spent on
education ”
