Commenting on the Government’s belated evidence to the School
Teachers’ Review Body on the 2024/25 pay award for teachers,
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union,
said:
“The Government’s evidence to the STRB shows that it is
continuing to ignore the reality of teacher pay, conditions and
recruitment and retention. The Government ignores the impact of
the huge teacher pay cuts against inflation since 2010 and
presents a misleading picture of teacher pay increases in recent
years, which have continued those pay cuts when we needed them to
be corrected. We have warned that the Government is gearing up
for another paltry pay increase of some 1-2% and is refusing to
provide the additional funding needed for the pay correction
required. The Government is again attempting to constrain the
STRB to working within the existing inadequate funding
envelope.
“The Government evidence talks about teacher pay awards returning
to a ‘more sustainable’ level – but it is the damage to education
caused by Government policy that is not sustainable. The
recruitment and retention crisis, driven by pay cuts and
excessive workload within an environment of funding shortages, is
causing severe damage not just to teachers and school leaders but
to the pupils and communities they serve. We need a fully funded,
major correction to teacher pay to repair the damage to teacher
living standards and to the competitive position of teaching, and
to protect our education service.
“The NEU is opening on Saturday a preliminary ballot of teachers
members in England calling for a fully-funded above inflation pay
increase. This latest announcement from Government will anger our
members. Strike action is a last resort but it will be an option
our members will seriously consider in the face of such a
belligerent approach from this Government.”
