Following the publication of evidence submitted by the National Education Union to the Schools Teachers’ Review Body, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The NEU’s written evidence to the STRB sets out the overwhelming evidence in support of the NEU’s call for a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise that constitutes a meaningful step towards a long-term correction in teacher pay. Along with effective action on workload, the pay correction is essential to tackle the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. The NEU rejects the Government’s attempts to constrain the STRB to working within the current inadequate funding envelope – we need additional investment to tackle the critical problems our education service faces after 14 years of austerity economics.
“The NEU evidence includes the findings of the latest NEU Pay and Progression Survey, highlighting unfair pay outcomes across the teacher pay structure and the impact of pay cuts on recruitment and retention.
“The NEU evidence shows the real picture – huge real terms pay cuts since 2010, cuts to the relative value of teacher pay against other professions, serious pay inequalities, and sky-high workload. The Government’s attacks on teacher pay have caused major damage to the competitive position of teaching, contributing to the critical and widespread recruitment and retention problems. Teacher shortages hit our education service hard, so failing to address them hits parents and pupils as hard as teachers and school leaders.”
Editor’s Note
Read the evidence of the National Education Union to the School Teachers’ Review Body