To be absolutely clear, I am extremely grateful for the dedication of teaching staff, and I recognise that the pandemic will have caused considerable challenges for teaching staff and schools. In fact, my mother was a teacher and I know how hard teaching staff work.
However, I want to outline clearly mine and the Government’s position on this matter.
It is extremely disappointing that the National Education Union (NEU), one of the trade unions representing the teaching profession, announced its intention to strike.
After two years of disrupted education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, every single day spent in school with experienced teachers who know their students makes a difference to a child’s development. The NEU’s decision to call strike action risks children’s education and wellbeing at a time when teachers are working hard to support them in recovering from the pandemic.
It is further disappointing that the NEU has taken this step given that the Government announced a record funding increase for schools in the Autumn Statement. In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed that schools in England will receive an additional £2 billion of funding next year and the year after. This will be the highest real terms spending on schools in history, totalling £58.8 billion by 2024/25. That does not mean that teachers aren’t facing pressure, but this is not a sector starved of investment.
On the issue of teacher pay, please be assured that the Government is clear that their pay should reflect their hard work, and that is why the pay rise teachers are receiving this year is the highest in a generation.
The Government accepted the recommendations of the Independent Pay Review Body to provide the highest pay increases for 30 years, with teachers seeing pay rises of 5 to 8.9%, and new teachers receiving the highest uplift. This will take teacher starting salaries to £28,000, which is significant progress towards this government’s 2019 manifesto commitment of a £30,000 starting salary. Furthermore, teachers’ pensions are among the best and safest available – and they come with a 23.6% employer pension contribution.
Ultimately, it is a decision for teaching staff to decide whether to take industrial action. However, whilst I sympathise with the issues facing the teaching workforce, I cannot support the proposed industrial action because of the impact on children’s education. These strikes are disappointing, and children’s education will suffer as a result.