Writing in yesterday’s Telegraph, NUT General Secretary Christine Blower says that while the prospect of further strike action is a last resort, many teachers have come to the end of their tether…
The NUT cannot recall a time over its 144 year history when Government policy has been so roundly condemned by the teaching profession and others.
According to Ofsted, two in five teachers leave the profession within five years of starting. That is a shocking statistic.
Furthermore, as the Government’s own survey shows, primary school teachers work nearly 60 hours per week and secondary school teachers nearly 56 hours. That’s the equivalent of working a day every weekend, on top of working 8am-6pm during the week.
The Government is pushing ahead with Performance Related Pay despite all international evidence showing that it doesn’t work, creates unnecessary bureaucracy and is divisive.
Dismantling the national pay framework and getting each school to develop their own pay system means that scarce resources are diverted away from teaching and learning.
Teachers don’t believe that they can work to 68, or even later, for a full pension.
As part of our campaign, Stand up for Education, the NUT will be engaging with parents and the general public; pressuring politicians and, if significant progress is not made in talks with the Government, the Union will be taking strike action.
We will seek to coordinate with other unions, including, of course, with the NASUWT, in late June. No examination taking place on the day would be affected as teachers involved in such exams would be exempt.
Let us be absolutely clear, strike action is a last resort for teachers but many have reached the end of their tether. The issues over which teachers are taking action, are not only detrimental to the profession, they pose a serious risk to high quality education for all children and young people in schools and colleges.
The decision to take further action is a direct result of the Government’s refusal to listen to teachers or respond in any way to their concerns.
Teaching is one of the best professions in the world, but many teachers are being crushed by Government policy. They are destroying teachers’ careers and lives, and ruining education…
More at: ‘Government policy is destroying teachers’
Your thoughts on Christine Blower’s comments? Is she right to be threatening further strike action this summer? Is it a response to left-wing pressure within the NUT or the right thing to do for members? And do you think her comments about engaging with parents will find them on her side or not? Please give us your thoughts and feedback in the comments or via Twitter…