Teachers’ unions are already cautioning staff that if they don’t receive a 12 percent salary increase by the fall, they will be urged to strike.
According to the National Education Union (NEU), teacher retention and recruitment are suffering, doing “serious damage” to education. Pay cuts and a heavy workload are to blame.
On the basis of Wednesday’s inflation data of 9.1% on the CPI measure and 11.7 percent for RPI, it criticized the Government’s testimony to the School Teachers’ Review Body for proposing a 3% pay increase for the majority of teachers in England, which it claimed would result in a “massive” pay decrease.
A 12 percent pay increase is required “to prevent a historic retention catastrophe and defend the future of education,” a fellow union, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said earlier this week.
The NEU demanded today in a letter to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi a fully funded inflation-plus pay hike for all teachers, as well as action on pay for other staff members such support personnel and steps to lighten workloads.
Even before this year’s increases in inflation, the minister was informed that teacher salary had decreased by 5% in real terms since 2010, but their workload remained at “unsustainable” levels.
In the letter, it is stated that teacher salary has decreased relative to incomes as well as in actual terms versus inflation.
“Relative to average earnings across the economy, average teacher salaries are at their lowest level in more than 40 years.”
Teachers and school administrators frequently inform us that workload is their main issue.
But at the moment, our members are informing us that pay is also a major problem.
“The excessive number of hours worked, the level of effort put forth during those hours, and the steadily declining pay levels are harming our schools and the young people we are educating.”
Teachers are estimating hourly rates, which are disturbingly low, based on their working hours and salary.
The number of applicants for teacher training has decreased by 24% from the previous year, according to the most recent statistics.
In their first year of employment, one in eight newly qualified teachers quit.
These young people frequently finished their undergraduate degrees before finishing their postgraduate degrees.
They are a huge loss for the industry, but more significantly for the students who depend on their teachers to care for and educate them.
“You must respond to the double-digit inflation that is the new economic reality and the harm it poses to teacher living conditions.”
“We demand that you guarantee all teachers raises equal to inflation or more.”
“Only proposing greater increases for beginning instructors is not sufficient” (which are themselves likely to be lower than inflation).
“The Government’s current inaction on these issues is seriously harming education and the livelihoods of our members,” the group stated.
We must inform you that if you don’t take sufficient action, we will contact our members about their willingness to engage in industrial action during the upcoming fall semester.
Additionally, we will strongly urge them to vote “yes.”
We are unable to watch while you destroy educators and education altogether.