In May 2015, I arrived in the UK, naive to the pressure of teaching in an English school and to the impact my experience would have on me. Within two years, I had fallen in love with my colleagues, students and my new life. There was no question that my visa would not be renewed - until it wasn’t. My school had been given unclear information from the Home Office, had been denied twice and then, due to funding, was unable to continue the process. The devastation wreaked havoc on me. I looked to other countries for jobs and spent months travelling Europe, coming back to the UK to see those who I had left behind.
Returning to Australia meant returning to a country where there is a surplus of teachers. Some have returned from the UK, in the same position as me, playing the visa waiting game.
I was lucky when a friend of mine, in another school, said that they were also desperate for teachers, and were willing to sponsor me. My new head is supportive. Our initial conversation, post-job offer, exuded enthusiasm that I would fly home in November 2017, and would be back in England for the January term. We were excited and confident. Then December came, with no news. January delivered the first blow - a huge number of points were needed above 21, for the first time ever.
The struggle to find enough teachers
Month after month, we have waited. Statistics are constantly released about the lowest number of teachers being recruited, about teachers leaving the profession because it is not sustainable, and we see the news that the teaching profession is at its lowest ebb. I am baffled every day that there are teachers having to leave the lives they have built in England because people can’t see sense. Teachers are as valuable as NHS workers, who have also, finally, been removed from visa caps.
Not a day goes by that I don’t wish that I was back in my classroom, doing my best to facilitate some change in the lives of young people, who I genuinely care about.
It is my hope that the #letthemteach campaign highlights both the desperate need for teachers in the UK and how passionate and persistent international teachers are about their jobs and their students. For now, I can only hope that my school won’t give up on its fight to keep me.
Claire Pearson is a teacher writing from Sydney, Australia
Please support Tes’ campaign and sign the Let Them Teach petition demanding that the whole teaching profession to put on the ‘shortage occupation list’ so that it gets priority for visas. If the petition hits 10,000 signatures, the government is obliged to formally respond to it. If it hits 100,000 signatures, the issue will be considered for a debate in Parliament. To sign the petition, click here.
