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NUT: Great Teachers report hollow words without action

NUT: Great Teachers report hollow words without action

Commenting on the Government’s response to the Education Select Committee report ‘Great Teachers: attracting, training and retaining the best’, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The Government needs to accept that recruiting and retaining teachers has nothing to do with marketing or bursaries but everything to do with trusting teachers and giving them professional autonomy.

“It is good to see that the Government agrees that continuing professional development (CPD) is important. These are, however hollow words when not backed up by an endorsement of the Education Select Committee’s recommendation of guaranteed hours based entitlement. Without this, in the current economic climate, many teachers will fail to access CPD at all.

“Whilst acknowledging the oversight role which falls to governors, it would however be inappropriate for governors to receive the full details of every teacher's appraisal.

“There is barely a week goes by without the Education Department making some scathing remark about our schools and teachers. Graduates will not be attracted to entering such a hostile environment. Combine that with issues regarding pay, pensions, excessive workload and the oppressive nature of the Ofsted inspection system and it is not difficult to see why teaching may not be the top of a graduate’s list”.

END PR122-2012
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