ASCL comment on PAC teaching workforce report

Commenting on the report of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Retaining and developing the teaching workforce, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“This report is a devastating indictment of the Department for Education’s failure to get to grips with a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention which has been brewing for several years. Ministers spent too long in a state of denial, and having belatedly woken up to the problem have failed to put in place a coherent strategy, and have focused instead on piecemeal initiatives. It has been a case of too little too late.

“As an organisation which represents most of England’s secondary school leaders, we have offered to work with the government on developing an overarching strategy to improve teacher recruitment and retention. We renew that offer to new Education Secretary Damian Hinds. We are very keen to work constructively with him to solve a crisis which will become much worse – unless action is taken urgently – because pupil numbers are rising significantly and many more teachers will be needed.”