Labour leader Ed Miliband’s promise of a “new beginning” for teachers, outlined in last week’s TES, sparked plenty of chatter on Twitter.

@NicJPrice said Miliband’s “call to arms” to bring back former teachers was a “nice idea but logically flawed”, while @KerstinMackay said it was “very unlikely to succeed without major reform”.

@g56g asked, pointedly, “what changes will make them stay?”

@hp_phillips wondered what the Labour leader meant by promising a “deep engagement” with teachers. “I’ll be listening with bated breath,” she tweeted.

Like many, @Nicholas_D_Mead was pleased with Mr Miliband’s terminology. “So teaching is a `profession’ again today? Well done,” he tweeted.

Others were concerned about what the opposition leader didn’t mention. @cazkins1 asked, “If education is for life, as your article says, why do you only talk about children and schools?” and @MahmoonaShah said, “What about long-suffering FE teachers? No mention of FE in this piece. Cinderella sector it shouldn’t be.”

As for that “new beginning” pledge, @NicholasBatty tweeted what many struggling teachers probably feel: “Start with a decent pay rise, Ed.”

But @DebiKeyteHart pointed out that the phrase itself was a “tautology”. Teachers, eh?

Darren Evans

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