So if teachers are leaving in droves

[BlastedPimples]

and recruitment is very low, what is going to happen? It can't continue like this surely and education levels will suffer enormously.

Massive classes for the teachers that remain?

Huge recruitment drive to entice more people into the profession?

Entice teachers out of retirement?

Recruitment from abroad?

The issue is that no one is trying to address the actual problems that are resulting in lower recruitment and a higher level of issues with retention.

Instead, we've had the government lowering the requirements for teacher training again and again, to the point where ITT providers have been instructed to get everyone a place unless there's a major reason not to (and just being a crap applicant is not seen as a reason). Once on a scheme, it's incredibly hard to fail out and providers pass trainees even when schools have massive concerns about them.

They've tried bribing with bonus payments, targetting different groups including the army, recruiting from abroad and now they're even creating a scheme along with the scouts to convince teenagers to go into teaching.

Edit: posted too soon.

And yet, even with lower and lower entry requirements, the number of trainees drops and drops. This year they only managed to find 62% of the required number of trainees. Primary wasn't too bad, secondary managed just half of the target set!

Yes to recruiting from abroad as well.

A school near me was newly opened 5 years ago, struggled to get teachers and had a shit SLT.

Their exam results for the first cohort were so bad that the local authority made the school change academy trust and name.

All the maths teachers left, they recruited a whole new department of teachers from Africa. There are massive cultural clashes.
Lots of parents are homeschooling or getting tutors or accepting their kid will fail and resit at college.

You clearly aren’t up to speed with your pension statement then, and the fact that most teachers nearing retirement are taking a one month break in order to lock in their best three years salary in the last ten.

2014-2017 was the last time teachers’ pay kept up with inflation. Since then, we have had below inflation pay rises which have devalued pay in real terms. Download your pension benefit pdf and see for yourself!

Why is Labour at fault here? The Tories have been in 14 years!! Why are people leaving the profession?
Why is the bar set so low for Rishi and so high for Kier?

I'm a TA in a primary school and I'm just finishing a degree at Uni.

I approached the school I work at to enquire about teaching training. They can't do it at the moment because of the budget.

I've been attacked and sworn at as a TA but I still want to teach. I love my job. But I can't become a teacher. The school have no budget to train me. My only option is an unpaid route into teaching which I simply can't afford.

@TansySorrel my thoughts exactly! Wtf

Nope
Voted Labour all my life

A quick Google shows

There are 24,413 schools in England – including 388 nurseries, 16,791 primary schools, 3,458 secondary schools, 2,366 independent schools, 1,005 special schools

so 6500 teachers won't make a dent. Assuming they can be found.

Yowzer. It will be a cold day in hell before any politician suggests this. But I think there is much in what you say.

Agree- I'd seek a position in an international school or career change and I imagine many others would.

If I were a labour spad, I'd be advising:
Complete overhaul of the 11-16 provision
More vocational routes post 18
Re opening the sure start centres
Open more APs
More money
More money
More money
Scrap ofsted
Scrap inclusion partnerships

I know.

That so called "point" made me furious 😠

Hear, hear

I didn't vote Tory and the current situation isn't Labour's fault.....
...but how are they going to recruit more teachers....if it isn't seen as an attractive (or well paid) job ? Nearly every teacher on MN wants to leave or is leaving teaching and says they'd never encourage their kids to teach....so how is that going to be turned around any time soon?

You can't say that!

You'll be accused of being tory!!
😡

This could be an issue as some private students move to state due to price hike

That’s been happening for a while now.

I bet you don't live in the south east...

Schools are already filling up with unqualified teachers and HLTA’s taking full classes, including the planning and assessment. This will just become more and more common.

It’s not about the money, tbh.

We already have. Quite a few, in fact, who should not be in teaching. Unprofessional, matey with the kids, undermine the behaviour system to get kids on side to the detriment of anyone else, barely know their subject, can't spell, often do not do the required paperwork. I've seen some awful new staff recently.

As for where it will all end up? Who knows? Best case, we will finally reach the point where someone in government readjusts working conditions to a more reasonable level, perhaps pre-2000 conditions of smaller class sizes, more power to expel, modular learning with less content, which ends up less stressful for the kids. Oh, and get rid of Ofsted. Worst case, we will pioneer large-scale, general online learning for the masses with face-to-face teaching only available for those who pay. Reality will end up somewhere in between.

You see it on here that teaching as a profession commands little respect. Until that changes, and society/Govt changes their attitude towards teachers, then why anyone would want to go into debt, training and qualifying, knowing that at the end the 'clients' will be out to get you and you also risk physical/verbal assault.

I work in a school and it's not unusual for staff to be ill during holidays as the stress of the job hits you at this point.

That’s NOT what the poster was implying!

It's perfectly legal for unqualified teachers to take classes.

Lots of schools now advertise for "graduate assistants" in subject X (usually maths or music) and if they get someone they have them teaching classes asap.

So people graduate and then teach pretty much straight away.

Sometimes the school will sponsor them through teacher training or they'll do the assessment only route.

Unqualified teacher rate is fairly low.