Unions ‘are sabotaging’ online lessons for children

TEACHERS have been accused of “blocking” children’s lockdown learning by citing union guidelines which say they should not conduct any online lessons which made them feel “uncomfortable”.

The UK’s biggest teaching union, the National Education Union (NEU), has told its members that online lessons should be kept to “a minimum” and that they “cannot be expected to carry out routine marking or grading” of pupils’ work while schools are closed.

The advice document published by the NEU adds that teachers should not live-stream lessons from home or do any video calls with pupils unless in “exceptional circumstances”.

In comes as leaders of major unions Unison, Unite, the GMB, Usdaw and the TUC warned Boris Johnson in a letter to The Observer that they will not recommend a return to work for their three million members until the Government and employers agree a nationwide health and safety revolution.

When parents have complained about the lack of school work during lockdown, they have been told by head teachers that their hands are tied because of the opposition they have come against from the unions.

One head teacher from Brighton told

The Sunday Telegraph that he had hoped that teachers would produce a couple of online lessons each week, either live or pre-recorded videos, to keep children motivated and engaged.

“Some teachers say that they are not willing to do it and that you can’t make them because the unions say they don’t have to,” he said. “There is not a huge amount I can do if I am honest. You could try to enforce it but you would never get very far, they would just down tools and say ‘you can’t force me’.”

Marking and grading work is also important to keep children motivated, the he said, adding: “I don’t really understand what the unions have against that. If you are not marking the work, children won’t see the point of doing it.

I know a lot of other heads in Brighton have been up against [the unions]. In most schools there is a union stronghold which does put a halt to a lot of the things you are trying to do.

“At the end of the day, children should be at the forefront of our thinking. This is a national emergency, you would think the unions would be a bit more understanding of that.”

The NEU has issued two sets of guidelines for distanced teaching and learning during the coronavirus pandemic: one for primary teachers and another for secondary teachers.

“Teachers should not live-stream lessons from their homes, nor engage in any video-calling unless in exceptional circumstances,” the primary school guidelines said.

It adds: “Online lessons are not desirable for primary children as the teacher-pupil interaction is not easily replicated.”

Meanwhile, the secondary school advice document states: “If schools have systems set up for online lessons, these should be kept to a minimum as the interaction needed between teacher and pupils in school is high and cannot be easily replicated.

“Any school which carries out online lessons must have protocols in place to protect staff and safeguard pupils, and no teacher should be expected to carry out any online teaching with which they feel uncomfortable or in the absence of agreed protocols.”

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, defended the guidelines and said that his members are working “flat out” to support students.

The guidelines are aimed at managing the workload and stress of children, parents and teachers, he said, adding that they are “not about preventing learning”. Mr Courtney said: “Arrangements for online learning must also protect teachers’ and children’s privacy.”

‘In most schools there is a union stronghold which does put a halt to a lot of the things you are trying to do’