Commenting on the report by the Social Mobility
Commission, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary, of
the National Education Union said:
“The latest Social Mobility Commission’s ‘State of the Nation’
report reveals the Government’s abject failure in tackling the
root causes of poverty and inequality and in offering hope to
communities across the country. The gap between the better off
and the least well off is growing and Britain is an increasingly
unequal and unfair society.
‘The widening gap is the product of a failed approach to economic
development and the incredibly short-sighted programme of
austerity which has cut vital public services,
including education budgets across the country.
‘Teachers do everything they can to help every child but they,
and the children, are let down by the Governments failure to
tackle inequality and childhood poverty.
‘That we have four million children living in poverty is an
absolute disgrace in the world’s fourth richest economy. If the
Government was serious about improving children’s life chances it
would have invested in early years rather than cutting Sure Start
and funding for childcare; it would have increased school funding
and local authority budgets for school support services not
slashed them and it would have addressed the growing teacher
recruitment and retention crisis. It would also have taken
serious steps to develop a strategy for creating good quality
jobs for young people through investment.
‘The crisis in teacher supply has fundamental causes that will
not be addressed by giving more responsibility to Regional
Schools Commissioners, as the report suggests. The root causes of
the crisis in retention and recruitment are clear: uncompetitive
pay and unsustainable workload and accountability pressures.”
