The Migration Advisory Committee today (Thursday 26 January 2017)
published a report on whether
teachers should be included on the UK shortage occupation list.
It added three more secondary subjects to the list (computer
science, Mandarin, and science), retained maths and physics, and
removed chemistry, but said: “The evidence and data did not lead
us to conclude that there was an occupation-wide shortage of
teachers.”
Malcolm Trobe, Interim General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said: “We are disappointed
that the Migration Advisory Committee has concluded that there is
no occupation-wide shortage of teachers.
“Its conclusion flies in the face of the evidence which
matters most and that is the experience of schools up and down
the country which are dealing with a full-blown teacher
recruitment crisis. School leaders are reporting severe
difficulties in recruiting staff in many subjects and they are
deeply concerned about the impact on their pupils.
“ASCL called for the shortage occupation list to be extended
in order to make it easier for schools to recruit from outside
the European Economic Area to help plug these shortfalls. It is a
shame that schools will be denied this opportunity in many
subjects.
“The government must develop a comprehensive strategy,
working with the teaching profession, to address the teacher
recruitment and retention crisis.”
Further information on the evidence that ASCL presented to the
Migration Advisory Committee is available here.
