(Coventry South) (Lab):
Before I go on, I put on record my huge admiration for our
teachers, teaching assistants, lecturers and everyone who
dedicates themselves to education in our schools and colleges in
the midlands and beyond. They deserve so much better than their
treatment by successive Conservative Governments. I also put on
record my absolute support for and solidarity with the teachers
and education staff in the National Education
Union as they fight for fair pay and for the future of
our schools and colleges. Teachers do not take action lightly;
they take it as a last resort, and only because they have been
pushed to breaking point while watching their pupils be failed by
Ministers. They are taking action because of their commitment to
education, not in spite of it. Polling shows that the public know
this too—the majority back striking teachers...
...Again, there is no mystery about what is happening with
recruitment and retention: educators are voting with their feet
after working harder and harder for less and less. Alongside
rising workloads, teachers have seen their pay cut year after
year—by around 13% in real terms since 2010. The Government’s pay
offer would only make things worse. In September, they offered a
“pay rise” of 5%, when inflation was, of course, running at
12.6%—that so-called pay rise was really a 7% pay cut. The
Government’s latest offer of an additional one-off cash payment
of £1,000 would not even be consolidated into pay next year, and
is dwarfed by the average energy bill alone. What makes it even
worse is that, according to NEU calculations,
these proposals are not even fully funded; instead, they would
require most schools to make further cuts to pay for them.
It is therefore little wonder that the latest pay offer was
rejected by a staggering 98% of voting NEU
members. This decisive rejection must surely make the Government
come back to the negotiating table with an above-inflation pay
rise. That would only start to undo the damage of a decade of
falling pay, as the Government must also restore pay for further
education teachers and help to address the severe challenges
faced by colleges across the country, including Coventry
College...
(Stoke-on-Trent North)
(Con): The hon. Gentleman ( (Chesterfield) (Lab)) referred
to the teaching unions and to teachers. Does he agree it was
wrong of the leadership of the National Education
Union to instruct teachers not to assess or mark work
during the pandemic?
For context, CLICK HERE
