Call for school changes after teacher strike vote

TONY HARRISON of Oldham NUT

A LOCAL union officer has urged the Government to act before England's education system "falls apart at the seams".

Tony Harrison, union learning representative at the Oldham branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), made the call after teachers voted to stage a one-day strike.

NUT members will walk out in England on July 5 over pay and conditions, contracts, workload and funding.

Damaging

Mr Harrison said: "In light of the huge funding cuts to schools, worsening terms and conditions, and unmanageable and exhausting workloads, teachers cannot be expected to continue without considerable change.

"The effects on children's education are also real and damaging. Class sizes are increasing, subject choices are being cut, and children are getting less individual attention as teachers and support staff are made redundant or not replaced when they leave.

"There is worse to come, with the Institute of Fiscal Studies predicting that the biggest real terms cuts to per pupil funding in a generation are on the way."

Mr Harrison warned that the teacher recruitment and retention crisis would worsen without "significant" changes.

He said that many parents shared the union's concerns adding: "At the absolute minimum, schools urgently need extra funding to meet the additional costs government has put on them through increased National Insurance and pension payments.

"This amounts to a five per cent charge on the teachers' pay bill for schools.

"Chancellor George Osborne is freezing the cash per pupil he gives to schools, whilst increasing what he takes from them.

"The policy of the government to ensure all schools become academies will result in decisions on pay and working conditions, including maternity/paternity rights and sick pay, being made at school level.

"There is absolutely no evidence that this sort of deregulation will lead to higher standards.

"School leaders' attention should be on educating children, not squandering huge amounts of time on negotiating individual staff members' contracts.

"There needs to be a guarantee of good standards for teachers' terms and conditions in all schools."

He also called on Education Secretary Nicky Morgan to protect teachers from "a workload crisis which is completely out of hand."

He said: "These problems are of the government's own making and it is time they addressed them before the education system in England falls apart at the seams."