Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT – The
Teachers’ Union – said:
“This Government has had almost fourteen years to resolve the
teacher recruitment crisis. Instead, under their watch, fewer
graduates are entering the profession and the numbers of new
teachers quitting have grown to critical levels.
“Increasing recruitment into the profession must be a priority,
but the Government is still failing to take the action needed to
not only recruit but also to retain teachers in the job.
“Whatever the route into teaching, parents have a right to expect
that their child’s teacher is highly qualified and has the
requisite training and skills to do the job.
“The Government’s previous decision to remove the requirement for
schools to employ teachers with Qualified Teacher Status - which
remains a major stain on their record in office - continues to
undermine the status and morale of the profession. We will be
looking for clarity from the Government on how the proposals
announced today will contribute to fixing these problems.
“At a time of significant pressures on school budgets and when
the workload of senior and middle leaders in schools is also
stretched, we need to have greater clarity on how schools will be
adequately funded and supported to deliver the robust and high
quality training that will be required.
“After fourteen years of Government neglect, schools deserves
better than a sticking plaster policy which offers no remedy to
the underlying causes of today’s teacher supply crisis.
“There is a mountain of evidence which concludes that the teacher
recruitment and retention crisis is being driven by excessive
workload, working hours and low pay which the Government has
failed to fix.
“Today’s announcement looks like another stab in the dark from a
Government that appears increasingly out of touch with the
realities facing the teaching profession.”
