Latest news with #teacherrecruitment
Telegraph
09-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour has no clear plan to recruit teachers despite VAT raid
Labour has no clear plan to meet its teacher recruitment pledge funded by VAT on private schools, MPs have warned. A report by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) claimed the Government's flagship education pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers 'lacks a coherent plan' and meaningful targets. The cross-party group of MPs and peers, more than half of whom belong to Labour, said it was 'unclear how this pledge will be delivered, progress measured, or what achieving it will mean for existing and forecast teacher shortages '. The promise to attract 6,500 new teachers over the next five years is being funded by the Government's decision to apply 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, which came into force in January. Labour said in its election manifesto that meeting its teacher target would cost £450 million – or around a third of the £1.5 billion it hopes to raise each year in the initial wake of the VAT policy. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, claimed last month that the plan was already 'working', after Department for Education (DfE) figures showed there were 2,346 more teachers in secondary and special schools compared to last year. But the PAC report cast doubt on whether this constituted progress, stating that there was 'no information on the baseline against which the pledge will be measured, how it will be split across schools and colleges, or the milestones that will need to be met' to achieve it. The committee also expressed puzzlement over where the 6,500 target came from in the first place, with the report claiming the DfE simply pointed back to Labour's election manifesto when asked about its origins. 'It did not provide further detail aside from describing it as deriving from 'factors that represented some of the pressures on teacher numbers across schools and colleges, such as vacancy rates'', the report added. Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat MP and one of the authors of the report, told The Telegraph 'there was quite a lot of waffle' over the flagship education pledge. 'The civil servants in front of the committee couldn't give us an answer as to where that particular [6,500] number had come from, where the projections were, how they were going to deliver it, or any sense at all of where geographically teachers were needed,' she said. Writing for The Telegraph, Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, claimed it showed Labour's flagship education pledge was in 'shambles'. 'This is not just incompetence. It is dishonesty. Ministers continue to insist teacher numbers are rising. They are not. The Government's own data shows the opposite. Labour are now insulting the intelligence of teachers, parents and the public alike,' she said. It comes as ministers have been accused of shifting the goalposts over their headline commitment on teacher recruitment, with the Tories last month claiming it had been 'abandoned'. Labour's election manifesto promised to recruit '6,500 new expert teachers in key subjects', but the party has since dropped the commitment for these to be specialists. Ms Phillipson also clarified earlier this year that the target only applied to teachers in secondary schools, specialist schools and colleges – not primary schools. The Tories accused ministers of altering the pledge following the latest DfE figures which showed there were 400 fewer teachers across all schools in England in 2024. This was driven by a drop of around 2,900 primary school teachers, in part because of a falling birth rate. The DfE said at the time it was 'untrue' to claim the teacher pledge had been adjusted and that Ms Phillipson made clear in February that it only applied to Year 7 teachers and beyond. It comes despite the Government's current website about its education pledges stating that 'recruiting 6,500 extra teachers' will help it improve progress among five-year-olds. The PAC report called on ministers to 'lay out the detail behind its pledge for 6,500 more teachers' and to urgently address the reasons for people leaving the profession, including worsening pupil behaviour. 'Lack of clarity' Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'We share the concerns about the lack of clarity over the Government's pledge to deliver 6,500 new teachers. 'This does not seem anything like enough to address future needs and we would urge ministers to address actual teacher shortages rather than fixate on a figure which is largely meaningless.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'This Government is already delivering on our pledge to recruit and retain 6,500 more talented teachers with 2,300 more secondary and special schoolteachers in classrooms this year, as well as 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the profession – one of the lowest leave rates since 2010. 'Since day one, the Education Secretary has worked to reset the relationship with the education sector, announcing pay awards of almost 10 per cent over two years and committed to tackle high workload and poor wellbeing including encouraging schools to offer more flexible working opportunities. 'We are committed to working with teachers as partners in the push for better, driving high and rising standards through our Plan for Change to enable every child to achieve and thrive.' 'Labour is taxing education and giving the proceeds to fix their failure to secure borders' Across government, Labour's first year has revealed a Government out of its depth. Ministers who weren't ready for office are now lurching from crisis to crisis. But nowhere is the damage clearer, or more deliberate, than in education. Education was supposed to be one of Labour's flagship missions. A government laser-focused on raising standards. What we've seen instead: fewer teachers, broken promises, and money taken from classrooms to house illegal migrants. They pledged 6,500 new teachers. They said it was essential and used it to justify taxing education. But a year on, there are over 400 fewer teachers in our schools, according to the Department's own figures. Worse still, the Prime Minister has now admitted that the money raised by taxing schools isn't even being used for education. It's being diverted to cover the housing of illegal immigrants. Let's be clear: Labour is taxing education and giving the proceeds to fix their failure to secure borders. Parents were told this would improve schools. It hasn't. The only thing this tax has done is make it harder for parents to choose the right school and has put more pressure on the state sector, all while failing to deliver the teachers we were promised. Insulting the intelligence of the public This is not just incompetence. It is dishonesty. Ministers continue to insist teacher numbers are rising. They are not. The government's own data shows the opposite. Labour are now insulting the intelligence of teachers, parents and the public alike. It is no surprise that today MPs have described the government's pledge as not only 'unclear' but said the Government 'lacks a coherent plan'. In other words, Labour's pledge is a shambles - as clear as mud. In December, the Government said all children should be starting primary school ready to learn and their first milestone to achieve this was to hire 6,500 more teachers. But, instead, teacher numbers are falling. They are falling because of the decisions Labour have made. Ministers promised schools they would be compensated on the back of Rachel Reeves's Jobs Tax - but they've broken that promise. Across the country, schools have been forced to axe teachers' jobs because of that deceit. Real problems in our schools are going unaddressed. Labour's bungled Schools Bill mentions nothing that will help improve behaviour in our schools. Instead, Labour have scrapped behaviour hubs, slowed hiring of behaviour and attendance ambassadors, and even voted against proposals to report violence against teachers to the police. Instead of tackling what matters, teacher retention, pupil discipline, attendance, and smartphones, Bridget Phillipson is fixated on an ideological union-driven crusade to tear up the system that works. Over the past three decades, a cross-party consensus transformed our schools. Autonomy, accountability and parental choice delivered real improvements. More good schools. Rising attainment in English, Maths and Science. That success story is now at risk. Chaos and delay Labour's education vandalism is dismantling the structures that helped raise standards, centralising power in Whitehall, and handing control to civil servants and local bureaucracies. School leaders are being pushed aside. Parental choice is quietly being eroded. Phillipson's department is lurching between chaos and delay, with no grip on the detail and no clear strategy for improvement. It's becoming obvious that Labour are more interested in pleasing the unions than supporting pupils. This means Labour will be defined by, fewer teachers, lower standards and less choice for parents. Instead, it will be more bureaucracy all dressed up as reform. A year ago, Labour promised to transform education. What they've delivered is confusion, centralisation, and a war on the very structures that helped Britain climb the global league tables. Labour said they'd raise standards. Instead, they've taxed education and spent the money elsewhere. They said they'd hire more teachers. We've ended up with fewer. They said education was their priority, but it's the children, teachers and parents who are paying the price for their broken promises and u-turns.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Unclear' how Labour's pledge to recruit 6,500 teachers will address shortages
It is 'unclear' how the Government will deliver its key pledge to recruit 6,500 more teachers by the end of this parliament, MPs have warned. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Government 'lacks a coherent plan', suitable targets and sufficient evidence of what works to improve teacher recruitment and retention. The Department for Education (DfE) should look at changes to contractual and working conditions – such as flexible working, according to the report from the cross-party group of MPs. It added that the DfE should assess pay against other recruitment and retention initiatives to make a decision on whether it needs to do more to ensure teachers are paid the right amount. During the election campaign, Labour pledged to recruit an additional 6,500 new teachers over the course of its five-year parliamentary term. But the report said it is 'unclear' how meeting this pledge will ensure there are enough teachers in the right areas. The PAC said: 'It is worrying the Department does not have a clear baseline or milestones against which to measure progress and be held accountable over the coming years.' The DfE gave 'no clear explanation' of how the pledge was calculated or how it will fill gaps, with an estimated need of up to 12,400 more teachers in colleges alone by 2028/29, it added. The report said workload is cited as the top reason for teachers leaving their jobs, and pupil behaviour is 'an escalating challenge' which school staff face. The MPs have called on the DfE to collect data on the effectiveness of its behaviour hubs, and to roll them out further if they prove to be successful. The PAC report found that teacher vacancies and the challenges of retaining experienced teachers are 'greater for schools in deprived areas'. Around a third (34%) of teachers in the most disadvantaged schools had less than five years of experience, compared to 20% in the least disadvantaged schools, it highlighted. These schools also suffer teacher shortages in specialist subjects, such as in computing, and the report warned that disadvantaged students are 'at risk of being locked out of particular careers' due to a lack of trained teachers. Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, a member of the PAC, said: 'The shortfalls laid out in our report show how urgent it is that DfE lay out the detail behind its pledge for 6,500 more teachers. 'The Committee is calling for the Government to take a serious look at working conditions, flexible arrangements and increased pay for teachers. 'It is important to stress that this Committee's role is not to make recommendations on policy – our report makes clear that Government should be exploring conditions and pay as value for money measures alongside the other recruitment and retention initiatives it is carrying out.' In May, the Government announced a 4% pay increase for school teachers and school leaders in England from September. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said schools would receive an additional £615 million of funding this financial year to help with the costs, but schools would have to find around 1% of the pay awards themselves. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'We share the concerns about the lack of clarity over the government's pledge to deliver 6,500 new teachers. 'This does not seem anything like enough to address future need and we would urge ministers to address actual teacher shortages rather than fixate on a figure which is largely meaningless.' He added: 'The impact of national teacher shortages is often most damaging in schools and colleges serving disadvantaged communities where recruitment and retention can be particularly hard. 'This is exactly where we most need a ready supply of teachers and leaders and the fact this is difficult to secure is a major obstacle in narrowing attainment gaps. 'The rising number of teachers leaving the profession because of pupil behaviour is also a major cause of concern. 'We hear from school and college leaders on a regular basis over just how challenging this issue has become in recent years. 'Behaviour policies are robust but there must be wider action to provide schools and colleges with specialist support and investment to address the variety as well as the complexity of needs that children and young people are exhibiting.' Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), said: 'It is critical that the Government takes action now and delivers a comprehensive plan to tackle the issues that are impacting recruitment and retention or it will miss its 6,500 teacher recruitment pledge. 'Schools are anxious to see the details of the Government's plan for supporting teacher supply.' Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said Labour's manifesto pledge to hire more teachers had descended into 'chaos'. She said: 'They promised that taxing education would pay for new staff, yet that money is now being diverted to house illegal immigrants. Their first milestone for school readiness was hiring 6,500 new teachers, but instead there are 400 fewer. 'Under Labour, teacher numbers are falling. This Government is defined by U-turns and broken promises. Parents, teachers, and children deserve better.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'This Government is already delivering on our pledge to recruit and retain 6,500 more talented teachers with 2,300 more secondary and special schoolteachers in classrooms this year, as well as 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the profession – one of the lowest leave rates since 2010. 'Since day one, the Education Secretary has worked to reset the relationship with the education sector, announcing pay awards of almost 10% over two years and committed to tackle high workload and poor wellbeing including encouraging schools to offer more flexible working opportunities. 'We are committed to working with teachers as partners in the push for better, driving high and rising standards through our Plan for Change to enable every child to achieve and thrive.'
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Unclear' how Labour's pledge to recruit 6,500 teachers will address shortages
It is 'unclear' how the Government will deliver its key pledge to recruit 6,500 more teachers by the end of this parliament, MPs have warned. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Government 'lacks a coherent plan', suitable targets and sufficient evidence of what works to improve teacher recruitment and retention. The Department for Education (DfE) should look at changes to contractual and working conditions – such as flexible working, according to the report from the cross-party group of MPs. It added that the DfE should assess pay against other recruitment and retention initiatives to make a decision on whether it needs to do more to ensure teachers are paid the right amount. During the election campaign, Labour pledged to recruit an additional 6,500 new teachers over the course of its five-year parliamentary term. But the report said it is 'unclear' how meeting this pledge will ensure there are enough teachers in the right areas. The PAC said: 'It is worrying the Department does not have a clear baseline or milestones against which to measure progress and be held accountable over the coming years.' The DfE gave 'no clear explanation' of how the pledge was calculated or how it will fill gaps, with an estimated need of up to 12,400 more teachers in colleges alone by 2028/29, it added. The report said workload is cited as the top reason for teachers leaving their jobs, and pupil behaviour is 'an escalating challenge' which school staff face. The MPs have called on the DfE to collect data on the effectiveness of its behaviour hubs, and to roll them out further if they prove to be successful. The PAC report found that teacher vacancies and the challenges of retaining experienced teachers are 'greater for schools in deprived areas'. Around a third (34%) of teachers in the most disadvantaged schools had less than five years of experience, compared to 20% in the least disadvantaged schools, it highlighted. These schools also suffer teacher shortages in specialist subjects, such as in computing, and the report warned that disadvantaged students are 'at risk of being locked out of particular careers' due to a lack of trained teachers. Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, a member of the PAC, said: 'The shortfalls laid out in our report show how urgent it is that DfE lay out the detail behind its pledge for 6,500 more teachers. 'The Committee is calling for the Government to take a serious look at working conditions, flexible arrangements and increased pay for teachers. 'It is important to stress that this Committee's role is not to make recommendations on policy – our report makes clear that Government should be exploring conditions and pay as value for money measures alongside the other recruitment and retention initiatives it is carrying out.' In May, the Government announced a 4% pay increase for school teachers and school leaders in England from September. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said schools would receive an additional £615 million of funding this financial year to help with the costs, but schools would have to find around 1% of the pay awards themselves. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'We share the concerns about the lack of clarity over the government's pledge to deliver 6,500 new teachers. 'This does not seem anything like enough to address future need and we would urge ministers to address actual teacher shortages rather than fixate on a figure which is largely meaningless.' He added: 'The impact of national teacher shortages is often most damaging in schools and colleges serving disadvantaged communities where recruitment and retention can be particularly hard. 'This is exactly where we most need a ready supply of teachers and leaders and the fact this is difficult to secure is a major obstacle in narrowing attainment gaps. 'The rising number of teachers leaving the profession because of pupil behaviour is also a major cause of concern. 'We hear from school and college leaders on a regular basis over just how challenging this issue has become in recent years. 'Behaviour policies are robust but there must be wider action to provide schools and colleges with specialist support and investment to address the variety as well as the complexity of needs that children and young people are exhibiting.' Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), said: 'It is critical that the Government takes action now and delivers a comprehensive plan to tackle the issues that are impacting recruitment and retention or it will miss its 6,500 teacher recruitment pledge. 'Schools are anxious to see the details of the Government's plan for supporting teacher supply.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'This Government is already delivering on our pledge to recruit and retain 6,500 more talented teachers with 2,300 more secondary and special schoolteachers in classrooms this year, as well as 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the profession – one of the lowest leave rates since 2010. 'Since day one, the Education Secretary has worked to reset the relationship with the education sector, announcing pay awards of almost 10% over two years and committed to tackle high workload and poor wellbeing including encouraging schools to offer more flexible working opportunities. 'We are committed to working with teachers as partners in the push for better, driving high and rising standards through our Plan for Change to enable every child to achieve and thrive.'
Malay Mail
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Malaysia's teacher shortage resolved with reforms to recruitment system, says education minister
BANGI, July 3 — Reforms to the teacher recruitment system implemented by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in collaboration with the Education Services Commission (SPP) have successfully addressed the teacher shortage in the country. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the reforms not only increased the number of teachers but also enhanced the quality and suitability of those assigned to schools. 'For the first time in the government's history, we, together with the SPP, have implemented reforms to ensure that there are no longer any issues related to teacher shortages in Malaysia. 'We have put an end to it by ensuring that the shortage is addressed through various mechanisms, particularly by ensuring that the teachers we deploy are of quality and capable of meeting the needs of our students,' she said at the 15th convocation of Institutes of Teacher Education (IPG) here today. In another development, Fadhlina said the Future of Malaysian Education 2026-2036 plan will involve the introduction of a curriculum that focuses more on values-based education, character building and the development of student personality, in line with the country's future needs. She emphasised that the implementation of the new curriculum would require active participation from both new and existing teachers, especially IPG graduates, to take on a more holistic role as mentors in shaping student character. 'A good classroom is not created through rules. A good classroom is created through relationships, expectations and appreciation. 'This is the time for our (IPG graduates) to be part of the reform force — the heartbeat of the education reform we are implementing,' she added. Fadhlina said the ministry also prioritises the well-being of teachers in implementing any educational reform. 'We are indeed taking several important steps to safeguard teachers' mental any situation, we must focus on their well-being by implementing various support systems, particularly efforts to reduce their workload,' she said. The Future of Malaysian Education 2026-2036 is a proposed policy currently being drafted to reshape the national education system for the next 10 years, replacing the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which ends this year. — Bernama
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'I couldn't imagine not teaching full-time - until I had my baby'
"I really loved my job, and I loved working full-time. I couldn't have seen that changing before I had a family." After eight years in teaching, primary school teacher Alice Cole says that all changed with the arrival of her first child, Oliver, last May. With Alice's partner working shifts, Alice says a full-time return to work would have made her family time "non-existent". "Working flexibly now has given me that precious time with my son which I wouldn't change for the world," she says. Alice returned to work three days a week at Oasis Academy Warndon in April and is on a flexible working arrangement for the next year, which means she can also take Oliver to regular baby group sessions. She believes delivering more flexible working options for teachers - especially those who are new parents - is going to be key to addressing ongoing issues with recruitment and retention in the profession. She wants all new parent teachers to be offered such flexibility, to allow them to "feel confident that taking that step forward in their personal life isn't going to lead to a step back in their professional life". It's an area of teaching the government is trying to improve as part of its pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said more schools should offer flexible hours when she announced plans to give teachers a 4% pay rise earlier this year. Pay and working conditions have been key drivers for many teachers deciding to leave the profession in recent years, and to fewer deciding to join. Annual data released on Thursday suggested the overall number of teachers has fallen by 400, and 1,400 fewer teachers entered the profession in 2024-25 than the previous year. It is the lowest year on record for new teachers joining the profession overall, at 41,736, or 9.2% of all teachers, and targets for trainee teacher recruitment were again missed for both primary and secondary schools for the ninth time in 10 years. Despite remaining high compared to previous years, the number of teachers leaving the profession in England has slightly improved compared to 2023-24. The government said Thursday's data showed there were 2,346 more teachers in secondary and special schools in England compared to last year. Responding to the data, the education secretary said the government was "delivering on our pledge to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers, with more joining the profession in our secondary and special schools and over a thousand more people intending to train to become teachers this year compared to last, fundamental to improving children's life chances." However, those figures have become a source of contention, with Conservative shadow education minister Neil O'Brien accusing Labour of "abandoning" their pledge by ignoring the falling number of teachers in state nurseries and primary schools, which had driven the overall numbers down. Primary pupil numbers are decreasing, though, as birth rates fall, and staffing issues have been felt most acutely in secondary schools - particularly in specialist subjects like maths, science and languages. Computer science teacher Sam Alner says he loves the "dynamism" of teaching, but regularly wonders how long he can sustain it. "Relentless is probably a word people would use when they talk about teaching," he says. Now 12 years into his teaching career, Sam is also vice principal at Bridge Academy in Hackney, east London, where more than half of the students receive free school meals. During the busy exam season, his day can begin at 05:00 and regularly finish late for parents' evenings, which he says can be "really, really full on". Sam has no plans to go anywhere anytime soon, saying he loves the "hustle" of school life. But he says he has seen other experienced staff members leaving to find a better work-life balance, or higher-salaried jobs, in recent years. "There's always more you can do because you can always spend that little bit extra time on making a lesson better," Sam says. "When you're young and fresh that's OK. But when you're having to make the choice between that work-life balance, I think that's when people look at teaching and go: 'I can't sustain or justify this.'" For Sam's subject, computing, the government hit just 37% of its national target for recruiting new teachers for 2024-25. Data gathered by survey tool Teacher Tapp, commissioned by teaching charity Teach First, suggests 15% of schools in the poorest communities cannot offer computer science GCSE, compared to 4% of the wealthiest schools. Many schools in disadvantaged areas find it harder to recruit teachers, especially in specialist subjects, meaning disadvantaged pupils may have fewer opportunities, Teach First chief executive Russell Hobby says. "What we really need is to flip the dial on that," he says."Otherwise, if we don't do that, we will continue to see these inequalities perpetuated." Dan Botting, executive principal of Portsmouth Academy, which also has a high proportion of pupils on free school meals, says finding staff to teach computing has been "really challenging" for his school. Coastal areas like Portsmouth have historically found it harder than other regions to recruit and retain teachers, so the school has had to be creative. A member of the senior leadership team has been retrained to deliver classes in computing, instead of "continuing to search for candidates that just aren't out there". They have had to limit the number of pupils who can take it at GCSE, Dan says, despite high demand - which he says has been a "shame". The school can provide for just one class of pupils per year for a GCSE in the subject at the moment, which Dan thinks "we could probably triple", as the students are enthusiastic about technology. Portsmouth Academy works closely with local universities to try to recruit new graduate teachers, and has hosted a "get into teaching" event. Across all subjects, Dan says he believes it is crucial to recruit teachers who will stay in the profession long-term. "It's really important to retain those people," he says, adding that it is crucial they have "the right skills and expertise to be able to deliver for the pupils who need it most". Additional reporting by William Dahlgreen Act 'now or never' to hit 6,500 teachers target, report warns Teacher mums who leave profession fuelling shortages Would a 1.40pm Friday finish stop teachers quitting?
