Commenting on the Government’s failure to yet again meet initial
teacher training recruitment targets in England for 2023/24,
Daniel Kebede, General Secrtetary of the National
Education Union, said;
“Another year of this Government missing its own initial teacher
training recruitment targets. Last year’s figures seemed as bad
as it could get but this year it has recruited just 50% of the
number of secondary trainees it says it needs. Among secondary
subjects, only history and PE currently have enough trainee
teachers, and for many subjects the picture is catastrophic: at a
time when the Prime Minister is pushing increased maths
provision, we are recruiting less than two-thirds the amount of
maths teachers required to meet even current demand.
‘The Government has still not recruited the full number of
primary teachers needed, either. The effects of this failure are
felt in schools up and down the country, with school leaders
unable to recruit teachers in many areas, existing staff left
overworked, and pupils being taught by non-specialists in too
many cases. But recruitment is only half the sorry story. We
still lose over 30% of trained teachers withing the first five
years of their career, and record numbers of teachers are
quitting before retirement age.
‘Everyone who knows a teacher, knows how hard they work, how
intense the job is, and that few would recommend it as a career
to others. Graduates have lots of options and teaching is not
looking like one for them currently. Children and young people
deserve better; teachers love to teach but the circumstances they
work in are unsustainable.
‘These figures show beyond a shadow of a doubt that the teacher
recruitment and retention crisis, already serious, is getting
even worse. The recruitment and retention crisis will not
be solved without the fully funded, above inflation pay rise, and
urgent action to tackle sky-high workload, for which the NEU is
campaigning.”
ENDS
Editors Notes
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2023-to-2024
