Govt planning to screw over teachers again

[noblegiraffe]

The government have recommended to the independent pay review body (late, they missed the deadline) that teacher pay rises should be 'more sustainable' this year. They haven't suggested a figure but looking at budget this would be 1-2% (i.e. another below inflation pay-cut.)

In the meantime, their commitment to reduce teacher working hours by 5 hours per week has been a complete failure as teacher working hours have actually increased in the last year:

"The latest wave of the working lives of teachers and leaders survey shows full-time leaders’ average working week in 2023 was 58.2 hours – over 11 hours a day – up from 57.5 in 2022.
The survey polled more than 10,000 workers, and found full-time teachers’ average hours were 52.4 per week, up from 51.9 in 2022......Teachers and leaders’ job satisfaction has also plummeted. Only 46 per cent were satisfied “most of the time”, compared to 58 per cent last year.

At the same time, the number of teachers quitting is increasing, and recruitment is becoming an even bigger issue due to the lack of people starting a PGCE last September who should now be applying for jobs.

The government gearing up for another war with teachers is clearly something they see as a vote-winner in an election year.

However, many voters are parents and can see the impact of the state of education on their children's experience at school.

NEU and NASUWT are currently consulting members to see if they want another ballot for strike action.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/keegan-calls-for-return-to-more-sustainable-teacher-pay-rises/
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/heads-and-teachers-working-longer-despite-workload-push/

But most people in the private sector won't be getting that level of sick pay. I don't understand why teachers believe they should get superior benefits to the private sector.

@nappyvalley2024 Ime the sick pay and maternity pay in teaching is worse than professional level private sector jobs.

However the 'benefits' used to be an attempt to make up for the lower pay. Clearly this isn't working anymore.

How? most firms only offer statutory. If the government think it's good enough for people in the private sector why is statutory maternity not good enough for the public sector.

My friends at professional level (accounts, lawyers, surveyors, business analysts, project mangers) all had better maternity than my teacher maternity pay.

Did you miss the point about the 'benefits' making up for the lower pay? Apart from they don't anymore.

https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/enhanced-maternity-pay/

The most recent statistics I could find, most firms offer more than statutory.

@nappyvalley2024 I can't understand why just because the private sector doesn't do it, baring in mind you're unlikely to be in situations where you're physically attacked or needing to physically intervene daily in some schools, we shouldn't.

That's the issue; education of children is starting to be seen as a business and not something that is extremely important and valuable to society as a whole.

When I was full time my normal working week was 50 on a good week, usually 60 and could be as much as 70 hours on a heavy week. I had a tlr and it was send and hadn't learnt today 'no this is taking the mick' at that point

Half terms of work a more 'normal' working week during the mon - Friday of about 35 hrs and get the weekends off.

Would spend two weeks of the 6 weeks working and half of the Xmas and Easter hols.

I once worked out that even with holidays, because I was working every Sunday, and some evenings I was working more hours than Dh.

*Half terms id work..

I have some noticed that young keen and child free teachers who are very committed are given an awful lot of extra bits. But I've also seen (and myself) the burn out and now that more are leaving.

I think when I was younger there wasn't the info on the internet to help you work out what else you could do instead. The leaving teaching Facebook group is enormous.