Commenting on the appointment of
as Education
Secretary, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union,
said:
“We welcome the appointment of to the post of Education
Secretary. As the eighth Secretary of State for Education since
2014, and the third since Tuesday, we hope that he will
immediately address the issues that are vital to young children
and the teaching profession.
“The causes of the alarming teacher
recruitment and retention crisis such as real-terms cuts to pay,
excessive workload and the damaging impact of Ofsted, must be
resolved. Schools are also seeing serious problems with support
staff retention because of poor pay.
“The Schools Bill which is
currently making its way through Parliament needs urgent reform
to be of any relevance to schools. Instead of repeating the
mistakes of previous Education Secretaries, , even as a caretaker
Education Secretary, must listen to the profession, parents and
students.
“On pay the Secretary of State will
very soon need to look at the latest report of the School
Teachers' Review Body on pay and award an inflation-plus rise for
all teachers. Anything less than that would be a failure. Nor is
it a decision that can be delayed; summer term ends shortly, and
school leaders must be in knowledge of the pay rise and any
additional funding in order to plan their budget for next
year.”
