The education week that was: A good day to bury bad news?

Your one-stop shop for the week’s biggest education news
22nd July 2018, 7:05am

Share

The education week that was: A good day to bury bad news?

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/education-week-was-good-day-bury-bad-news
Thumbnail

Sometimes you can’t help feeling sorry for officials at the Department for Education.

They spend so much time crunching the numbers and writing important reports, only to find that the fruits of their labours are unaccountably rushed out all at once, just as everyone is about to go on holiday.

It’s almost as if the department hoped that no one would read them.

So, to be helpful, the Tes team ploughed through hundreds of pages of reports, accounts and statistics that the DfE pumped out on Thursday, just to make sure nothing was missed.

Here’s what we found:

There was another piece of news from the Department for Education that you may have missed this week: the teachers’ pay rise.

But this time, there was a very good reason why you did not see this important announcement: it still has not been made, despite most schools breaking up for the summer this week.

The delay in revealing the teacher pay rise - and, crucially, whether schools or the government will fund it - has been causing increasing anger and frustration.

Heads branded the delay “a joke”, and warned that an unfunded pay rise would put schools in the red.

Meanwhile, unions warned of a summer of anger, and are discussing preparations for a ballot on industrial action.

The reason for the delay is believed to be a behind-the-scenes dispute between the DfE and the Treasury about how to fund the anticipated inflation-busting pay rise.

When education secretary Damian Hinds was asked to ensure the announcement was made before Parliament goes into recess on Tuesday, he dodged the question. Unions fear that could mean they have to wait until September.

Let’s hope that when the decision is finally made, it isn’t another piece of bad news that the DfE feels it has to bury.

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared