Responding to the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review,
Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The
Teachers’ Union, said:
“The short-sighted decision to freeze teachers’ pay is out of
step with public opinion and is a slap in the face to the
teaching profession, particularly at a time when teachers have
been serving on the frontline, risking their own health to
maintain education and support for children and young people.
“The Chancellor’s claim that a public sector pay freeze is
necessary as private sector wages fell by nearly 1% in the six
months to September is no justification for imposing further
real-terms cuts to the pay of teachers.
“The Government has tried to trumpet headlines of a 3.1% pay
award in 2020 for teachers, but the reality is that two-thirds of
teachers were eligible for no more than a 2.75% pay award and
many teachers received nothing
“This is on the back of a decade of real-terms pay erosion which
has created a 20% shortfall in teachers’ salaries.
“The Government has presided over a teachers' pay lottery,
short-changing teachers and failing to ensure that school and
academy employers give teachers the pay awards they are entitled
to.
“The Chancellor’s commitments on school budgets have not
addressed the ongoing additional financial pressures that all
schools are facing and will continue to face into 2021 and beyond
as a result of the pandemic. The academic, social and emotional
cost of tackling Covid-19 and its impact on children and young
people is likely to be significant and will only increase the
strain on school budgets.
“The Government’s pledge to stick to pre-pandemic funding
commitments will be wholly insufficient in ensuring schools and
children’s education recover fully from the impact of Covid-19.”
