THE NATIONAL Education Union (NEU) consultative ballot on the government’s pay offer has been rejected by an overwhelming 98% of members in England on a turnout of 66%, delegates at the Union’s annual conference in Harrogate were informed to rapturous applause on Monday morning.
It was announced that 191,319 serving teachers in state schools in England have voted to reject Tory Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s offer in less than six days.
It is not surprising that the offer has been rejected.
The offer was not fully funded, would have meant teachers in England would see their pay fall even further behind their counterparts in Wales and Scotland and it would represent another two years of real-terms pay cuts.
It would do nothing to reverse the problems of recruitment and retention in schools.
Commenting on the result, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education, said: ‘This resounding rejection of the government’s offer should leave Gillian Keegan in no doubt that she will need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better proposal.
‘The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system.
‘We have today written to the education secretary informing her of the next two days of strike action on 27 April and 2 May that NEU teacher members in England will now be taking.
‘These strikes are more than three weeks away; Gillian Keegan can avoid them.
‘No teacher wants to be on strike. Nor can they accept this offer that does nothing to address the decades of below inflation pay increases making them the worst paid teachers in the UK.
‘The offer will do nothing to stem the teacher recruitment and retention crisis which is so damaging to our children and young people’s education.
‘The education secretary has united the profession in its outrage at this insulting pay offer. It is now for her to rectify that situation by starting to value education.
‘The NEU is ready as we have stated all along to negotiate with ministers, but this time we hope a lesson has been learnt.
‘Gillian Keegan needs to start negotiations with respect for the profession she is supposedly representing in government.
‘To parents we say that we have no wish to disrupt education, indeed our action is aimed at getting the government to invest in the education of this generation of children and the people who teach them.
‘We are asking our school reps to plan with head teachers to ensure that year 11 and year 13 students have a full programme of education on the upcoming strike days.’
The voting was:
Total Eligible 295,560
Total Voted 195,564
Turnout = 66.17%
REJECT: 191,319 (97.83%)
ACCEPT: 4,245 (2.17%)
At the Harrogate Annual Conference (3-6 April), NEU members have been voting on a series of vital motions and policies.
The Crisis in School Funding
Commenting on the passing of Motion 12 at the Annual Conference of the National Education Union, Dr Mary Bousted said: ‘Education funding suffered a “lost decade” in the 2010s with a 9% cut in real terms spending.
‘The 2019 and 2022 Spending Rounds were a first step to repairing the damage. A decade of underfunding cannot be repaired overnight and requires a long-term commitment from Government.
‘The extra £2bn in the Autumn Statement 2022 was just a sticking plaster to cover the high inflation caused by the government’s economic mismanagement.
‘In 2022, the Government spent just 4.2% of GDP on education compared with 5.6% in 2010. High income countries spend an average of 5% of GDP on education…
‘Class sizes are at record levels – primary class sizes are the highest in Europe and secondary class sizes are the highest since records began more than 40 years ago. The education sector needs more money and needs it now. All children deserve to be taught in classes of fewer than 30 led by a qualified teacher.’
Primary Curriculum
Commenting on the passing of Motion 10 Bousted said: ‘Statutory testing in primary schools, including SATs, does not contribute to higher standards. Testing forces teachers to concentrate on a narrow part of the curriculum, at the expense of sports, arts, and the humanities.
‘For too many children, primary school has become a dull place, one in which they do not feel successful or inspired.
‘The emphasis put on SATs results means that those who do not show the best of themselves in formal written tests are made to feel like failures.’
Academies
Commenting on the passing of Motion 13 Bousted said: ‘The marketisation and privatisation of schools through academisation is a costly and hugely disruptive policy which has had negative effects on all aspects of education.
‘It has not generated any of the benefits once claimed for it in terms of improving pupil outcomes or freedom for schools, and it has set our education system on entirely the wrong path.
‘It has unleashed competitive pressures which mean schools are incentivised to prioritise their own interests, undermining effective collaboration, and leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and educational opportunity for pupils.
‘An education system that is fit for our children and best prepares them for the challenges they will face in life and work, is one that has the fullest participation of staff, pupils, parents and the wider community. But the continued fragmentation of our school system and the growing power, size and centralisation of multi-academy trusts is taking us is not the answer.
‘Building union voice within the multi-academy trust (MAT) sector is central to the fight for a better and more equitable education system.
‘After all, educators’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. The NEU will continue to encourage and develop networks of active, trained reps in MATs seeking to level up to the very best terms and conditions for members and ensure they are afforded the professional autonomy to use their knowledge, skills, and experience to deliver the very best education for our children.
‘Up and down the country our members have stood with parents and communities against attempts to railroad schools into becoming academies. They recognise that transferring their school into the hands of an unaccountable private organisation is not in the interests of pupils and their education.
SEND – Fighting for Better
Commenting on the passing of Motion 11 Bousted said: ‘SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) is in crisis and the government SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan will do little to resolve the dire situation that schools, young people and families find themselves in.
‘Funding shortfalls, loss of support staff, appalling access to specialist support professionals and the cost-of-living crisis are combining to prevent schools from being able to support SEND students effectively. They can’t provide their SEND pupils with the quality of provision they deserve. They can’t develop productive policies for behaviour, and nor can they implement curriculum changes.
‘The government’s new plan – with its introduction of ‘National Standards – will impose new expectations on schools with none of the extra resources they tell us they need. In the words of one member, it feels like both pupils and staff are being set up to fail.
‘Children and young people with unmet SEND needs require much quicker access to specialists within and outside school. They need professional class teams which include support staff, and access to a wider school pastoral team. They need SENCOs who have the time to work with and support classroom staff. Instead, they face an unprecedented crisis.
‘The message from our members is clear: the problems of SEND are deeply alarming and government has no effective plan to deal with them.’
- New study proves Ofsted leaves teachers exhausted
The first findings of an authoritative new study from University College London and the University of Cardiff shows that teachers who believe an Ofsted inspection is likely in the coming 12 months have a higher work intensity with lower task discretion and are more likely to report always coming home from work exhausted than other teachers.
The study also found that teachers who already worked at higher intensity than other professionals and with lower flexibility have had no change in their working after the pandemic, whereas other professionals have experienced a significant reduction in their work intensity and a significant increase in the flexibility of their working hours.
The study, which was funded by the National Education Union, has also looked at social deprivation and found that teachers working in schools with high levels of deprivation have higher work intensity, and lower task discretion than teachers in other schools.
Commenting on the first findings, Bousted said: ‘This study will come as no surprise to teachers, it proves what they all know. Teaching is already exhausting work and the run up to Ofsted makes work significantly harder and more exhausting.
‘The government cannot go on with a broken system. That is why the NEU is calling for Ofsted to be replaced with a new system that is supportive, effective and fair.’
