Money and pay are often on people’s minds towards the end of the month. This was certainly true for teachers this week.
But there was one particular development that focused teachers’ minds even more than usual: the 6.5 per cent pay rise for nurses, which the government agreed to pay for over a three-year period. Will teachers be granted a similar deal? Even if they are, it won’t be enough to solve the recruitment crisis gripping the profession, according to NEU teaching union joint general secretary Kevin Courtney.
In any case, who says teachers shouldn’t set their sights higher than a measly 6.5 per cent? After all, a fortuitously-timed report on Tuesday showed that teachers work longer hours than nurses - as well as police officers. In news unlikely to shock a single teacher across the land, the researchers also found that school holidays don’t compensate for the long hours, because of all the unpaid overtime.
While pay isn’t the answer to all the challenges facing the profession, it wouldn’t be a bad start, a separate report concluded. And, rather than swallowing up public resources, a “modest” 5 per cent rise for early-career maths and science teachers could actually cost less - and be a more effective way of addressing teacher shortages - than the government’s current focus on recruitment, the report suggested.
Education committee grilling
Unsurprisingly, recruitment was also one of the topics that came up during Damian Hinds’ first grilling by the Education Select Committee since being appointed education secretary. How did he do? He dodged questions, rambled at length and sat on the fence, like a pro.
Sitting on the fence is definitely not a quality one associates with Hinds’ colleague Nick Gibb, who’d made the eyebrow-raising assertion in the House of Commons earlier in the week that the Department of Education was not struggling to find academy sponsors. The DfE was, presumably, just playing it safe when it announced later in the week that it was lifting a financial rule said to be deterring potential sponsors.
Looking ahead, despite the prospect of more seasonal spring weather, the DfE will know better than to sit back and enjoy the sunshine - especially with Easter teaching conferences around the corner. Expect workload, Sats and recruitment to get a good showing - not forgetting pay, of course.
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