Headteachers' union responds to "half-baked" teacher recruitment plans

Responding to the government's announcement that some teachers will get an additional £6,000 to teach some subjects, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT, said:

“The government has tinkered around with a number of schemes which are supposed to improve teacher recruitment, including this one, but last year's dire trainee teacher recruitment figures show that its half-baked proposals simply aren't working.

“Expanding this scheme alone, with its sticking plaster approach, may have some localised benefits, but it does not begin to get to the bottom of the severe recruitment and retention crisis facing schools, or incentivise experienced teachers and leaders to remain in the profession.

“Doing so will require serious government action and investment to reverse a decade of real-terms pay cuts for teachers and leaders, properly fund schools, reform the damaging inspection regime, and reduce intolerable levels of workload.”