NEU comments on Public Accounts Committee report on teacher shortages

Commenting on the Public Accounts Committee report on teacher shortages, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: 

"It is heartening to see the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) really get to grips with the serious challenge around teacher numbers and subject specialists.

“English schools and colleges are in the midst of the worst teacher recruitment and retention crisis in a generation created by long hours, poor pay and Ofsted.

“The PAC are absolutely right to focus on these issues and to urge that the Department for Education develop a coherent plan with measurable targets backed up by evidence of what works.

“The NEU welcomes the PAC's focus on schools with high levels of pupil poverty and the negative impact of Ofsted in these areas. The DfE must address the issue that these teachers are working under even greater stress than their peers.

“The NEU welcomes the focus on the disparity in pay between schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining enough teachers with excellent subject knowledge in the profession will only be possible with a correction in teacher pay and the Chancellor really must engage with this reality”.