SCHOOL IS TOO CRUEL
28,000 teachers leave profession over low pay and poor conditions
A QUARTER of teachers who qualified since 2011 have already left the crisis-hit profession.
An astonishing 28,000 recruits quit as low pay and harsh conditions took their toll, Labour figures revealed.
And experts fear things will get even worse as the number of newly qualified teachers in 2015-16 dipped by a worrying 1,000.
Labour’s Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, said: “Teachers are leaving our classrooms in record numbers and the crisis is getting worse year after year.
“The Government have serious questions to answer on the way their policies, in particular the continued cap on public sector pay, are causing the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.”
dEspERATE
The new figures were revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question.
They show that for 2011 alone more than 31 per cent of 20,600 newly qualified staff left within five years.
That is more than 6,000 teachers. Seventeen per cent had gone within two years. By 2014 that figure was up to 21 per cent of new recruits.
Andrew Morris, head of pay, conditions and bargaining for the NUT, said: “This is a desperate situation that has been going on for years with the Government missing their own targets for recruitment into teaching for five consecutive years.
“Retention has also become an increasing problem, with many more teachers in later career deciding to leave well before retirement age.
“While the Government has just about managed to recruit the required number of new primary teachers, the number of primary classes over 30 has still risen substantially. Recruitment of new secondary teachers, however, A SEASIDE stroller with a toddler braved the rain in Blyth, Northumberland, yesterday – St Swithin’s Day. Legend has it that showers on July 15 mean 40 days of wet weather. has been well below target. Secondary teacher numbers fell last year, pushing up the pupil-teacher ratio. “The number of lessons taught by non-specialists in key subjects like maths rose. “Failing to recruit the target number of teachers in maths and other key subjects will make the problem worse in the coming years as student numbers increase dramatically. “Workload and trust in teachers is central to this problem, but unless the issue of pay and funding of our schools is addressed it will only get worse. “This is no way to be running our state education system.” keir.mudie@trinity mirror.com
Government has serious questions to answer for causing this schools crisis ANGELA RAYNER SHADOW EDUCATION SECRETARY