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This from Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union. Ed
The new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, inherits a whole set of challenges in need of urgent attention.
The cost-of-living crisis affects everyone, every school and public service, every business. To survive, we require significant governmental support and swift action.
Current pay deal falling far short of what’s required
Teacher pay, support staff pay and school funding are all live issues, with the government’s current pay deal falling far short of what is required.
The current five per cent deal for teachers and eight per cent for support staff adds up to a further pay cut, on top of more than a decade of real-terms cuts to pay. Teacher recruitment and retention has been struggling for some time.
This must be reversed urgently if we are to protect education and provide services children deserve and need.
Liz Truss talks about “bold plans” and insists in her lunchtime speech: “We will deliver!” repeated three times.
Three devastating aspects
Perhaps, acknowledging three devastating aspects, which could have been handled better by Conservative governments:
- Austerity hurts, depressing education funding, whilst school costs continue to rise.
- Covid – worsened by not investing more and prioritising education recovery.
- the ongoing energy crisis.
Children and young people have been and are suffering still. Children and schools should no longer be an after-thought.
Shield children during the cost-of-living crisis
We urge the new Prime Minister to shield children during the cost-of-living crisis, create some positive change, which will benefit the education system as a whole and to take “bold” urgent steps to end child poverty.
