Commenting on the passing of motion 11 at the National Education
Union’s Annual Conference, which is being held virtually, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union, said:
“What has been clear over the past 12 months is that the workload
facing staff in schools and colleges remains stubbornly high.
Even in normal circumstances, teachers work some of the longest
hours of any profession, and certainly in excess of the
recommended maximum of 48 hours per week set out in the working
time regulations. The Department for Education’s own research
bears this out.
“Our members tell us that keeping workloads at an acceptable
level is absolutely essential to rebuild from the past year. 85%
of the 10,000+ members responding to our latest survey put it at
the very top of the agenda. (1) They are crying out for the space
to concentrate on their essential role, not the endless demands
of a data-obsessed government. In many workplaces members have
come together in order to challenge the causes of high workload –
but not all of it can be resolved at school or college level.
“The problem of high workload predates the pandemic and will,
unfortunately, survive it.
“A starting point on the road to solving workload would be for
Government to make a serious commitment on funding. Real-term
cuts over many years have caused much damage, forcing class sizes
to increase, subject options to narrow, buildings to fall apart
and staffing levels to drop. Clearly if there was a truly
restorative investment in schools and colleges, one that would
allow large class sizes to become a thing of the past, then the
benefits would be immense and lasting for all.
“This is, however, only part of the way in which we should tackle
workload. If young people’s learning is indeed the same priority
of Government as it is for school and college staff, then the
culture of ‘data, data, data’ must end. Ofsted and performance
tables are crude and unhelpful and distract from the essential
work of a school. 82% of members want flexibility in the
curriculum right now so they can respond individually to the
needs of their students, which is surely the most important thing
we can do as professionals as schools and colleges emerge from
Covid.”
