ATL comment on overseas teachers and the report from the Migration Advisory Committee

Commenting on the report by the Migratory Advisory Committee, Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:

“We are deeply disappointed by the Migration Advisory Committee’s failure to recognise the growing teacher shortage crisis, despite compelling evidence from ATL and other unions.  This crisis will get worse with the bulge in pupil numbers, make it hard for schools to find a teacher for every class and risk the quality of education for children and young people in England.

“We currently need trained and qualified teachers from other countries to enable schools to put enough excellent and prepared teachers in front of our classrooms.  While overseas teachers are only one piece of the strategy to ensure we have enough teachers in our schools, we cannot afford to lose them.  Excessive teacher workloads and salaries which are not keeping pace with inflation are the biggest contributors to the crisis in teacher numbers and will soon mean that shortages of teachers for maths and sciences are just the tip of the iceberg. The Committee’s failure to stop the loss of highly qualified overseas teachers may well be the straw to break the backs of our underfunded schools.”