The National Education Union is calling for a significant pay
increase for teachers to help address the growing crisis in
teacher recruitment and retention, pay teachers fairly and help
deliver the best possible education for pupils.
As part of its evidence submitted to the School Teachers’ Review
Body, the National Education Union is calling for:
• An immediate 5%
pay award for all teachers to begin the process of restoring pay
levels in both real and comparative terms;
• Pay levels
which remain competitive in the longer term with other
professions and reward teachers fairly;
• A common pay
increase for all teachers, recognising that different pay awards
for different groups are ineffective and demotivating; and
• Additional
Government funding for all schools to help them implement the
award.
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National
Education Union, said:
“The National Education Union believes that the damaging cuts to
teachers’ pay must be reversed. Pay should be restored at least
to the levels in place before the Government misguidedly imposed
its pay freezes and pay limits.
“With schools already struggling with the current funding crisis,
we believe that it is vital that Government allocates additional
funding to support the pay levels needed to address the
recruitment and retention crisis.
“It is essential that teachers are paid properly. This week, the
Public Accounts Committee asked the Government to set out a
coherent plan for supporting schools to recruit and retain
teachers. Action on pay, as well as workload, must be at
the heart of this.”
ENDS
NB: Attached is the full submission to the STRB by the National
Education Union. A summary of the findings of our recent survey
of 12,000 members about pay can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2BGaGPr
