The General Election result – Is this death of Teaching as a profession?

It has taken me some time to absorb and respond the the recent Election result, like many of my colleagues in teaching  I was surprised if not shocked by the May election results.

Time will tell how the next 5 years pan out but I don’t think anyone foresaw that the Conservative party would be returned with a majority ruling. I fear over the next 5 years teaching, the teaching profession and the education landscape will change dramatically & possibly never recover. Why am I so downbeat? well a few examples…..

Unqualified staff teaching our children:

When speaking to parents all were surprised that one of the central planks of the Tory manifesto would be the recruitment on unqualified staff into teaching positions

I wouldn’t want my child taught by someone who was not qualified to teach, nor do I know of any parent who wants this for their child – Yet if this Government can, Nicky Morgan the current Education Minister will introduce this  policy. Call me a cynic but with recruitment numbers of people choosing teaching as a profession declining alongside unprecedented numbers leaving teaching I cannot feel that this is anything but a ‘cost cutting’  ideological recruitment policy by the Tories to plug the pending teaching gap.

Pay, Regional Pay & Performance Related Pay

Then comes the issue of pay, regional, pay and performance related pay, all business and their corporate related objectives are taken from the ‘GERM’ or the ‘GLOBAL EDUCATION REFORM MOVEMENT’ which Micheal Gove the previous Education minister (some say he still pulls the strings) so believed in, GERM suggests schools run along more business proven models, but there is a fundamental flaw in this argument, businesses are (in the main) designed for profit, schools by their nature and outcomes are a not for profit SOCIAL GOOD provider, you cannot have corporate objectives in a public sector/social good producer, it is an oxymoron. By doing so it will drive ever more from the profession.,

Supply Agencies & Deregulation 

With such a decline in teaching staff numbers, supply agencies simply ignore the economic principle of supply & demand, this being when supply is low & demand is high a premium can be placed on that product, however teacher supply agencies take the reverse approach, demand is high for supply teachers but their pay is falling. HOW?

Through supply agencies charging schools ever greater rates and supply teachers ever lower rates – i/e making a profit from education.

That is what happens when you allow a market to be deregulated and schools & supply agencies to fix the rates of pay for the workers.Jeremy Hunt the Health Minister denounced supply agencies in the NHS stating these agencies should not be profiting from a public sector as crucial as the NHS is, but it seems education & schools are ripe for profit making. Therefore supply teachers pay may continue to fall.

Cuts, Cuts, Cuts

We are now into Year 4 or is it Year 5 of the austerity programme and schools budgets are being cut by another 12- 13%  & this is actually Year 1 of the  Conservative party stand alone Budget/austerity programme, which will only be deeper & harsher than what came before………….where are these ‘savings’ to be found????

in one place through the pay & pockets of the current teachers & education staff. It is not enough teachers have had years of pay freezes whilst politicians get 10% pay increases, it is not enough during this time inflation has running at 4 to 5% so the reality is actual pay decline or that teachers have had pension reform thereby by forcing them to pay more in pension contributions. And what has been the outcome of the last 5 years? I do not see our public finances repaired as promised by George (Gideon) Osborne 5 Years ago.

In Summary:

• I fear for my job.
• I fear I will not get a decent rate of pay from my supply agency.
• I fear schools in an ever tighter squeeze on finances will offer me less pay.
• I fear for my old age and how I can provide for it through sensible retirement planning using my teacher pension.
• I fear for my children I don’t want them taught by someone who is not qualified to teach them, as education should set them up to be able to work & earn a good living throughout adulthood.
• I fear for my profession, the one I worked so hard for.
• I fear this Government are decimating education.

I hope I am wrong – only time will tell.

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