The Welsh Government’s neglect of teachers is leading to a crisis in education in Wales, teachers at the NASUWT Cymru Conference will hear this weekend.
 
Welsh members of NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union will gather in Cardiff to set the union’s campaign agenda for the coming year.
 
Motions will focus on:

• Protecting the profession by increasing recruitment and restoring pay: in an unprecedented move, the government have only agreed to offer teachers a 4% pay award, despite the IWPRB recommending a 4.8% rise. Teachers’ pay in Wales has declined in real terms by 15% since 2010 and recruitment has dropped sharply in the past two years.
• Real action on the learner behaviour emergency: teachers need solutions for rising primary school violence, disruptive mobile phone use, and issues affecting teachers working in youth offending units and prisons. Violence in schools continues to worsen with 6446 violent incidents recorded against school staff in 2023-2024 – the equivalent of 34 teachers being assaulted every school day.
• The urgent need for meaningful social partnership: teachers were not admitted to the government’s recent Behaviour Summit meetings, and NASUWT remains concerned that only senior school leaders have been invited to join the Cabinet Member for Education advisory group.

Matt Wrack, Acting General Secretary for NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union, said:
 
“If the Welsh government wants to build a world-class education system, it’s time to start investing in teachers.
 
“NASUWT Cymru teachers are right to hold their government and local authorities to account for making their jobs needlessly difficult. We have a lack of funding for education, a lack of action on untenable levels of learner violence in the classroom, and a lack of time and resources to prepare for the new qualifications being rolled out in Wales.
 
“Lip service won’t improve education in Wales. We need decisive action that is designed to empower teachers and pupils to fulfil their true potential.”
 
Neil Butler, National Official for Wales, said:
 
“This government, it seems, is sleepwalking towards crisis. While their workloads increase and their pay stagnates, teachers are expected to endure violence in classrooms and accommodate unrealistic qualifications reform that will impact standards in Wales.
 
“If we don’t resolve issues with recruitment and retention in teaching, the reality we face is ever-increasing class sizes taught by exhausted staff who cannot meet pupils’ needs. The number of specialist subjects available to pupils in Wales is shrinking as we speak.
 
“NASUWT has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of teachers over the last year, securing tangible wins like the single pay scale and a delay to the launch of a half-baked History GCSE. But our action doesn’t stop there.
 
“Teachers need to feel safe, secure and supported at work. They need to feel that teaching, as a profession, is respected and valued. This can only be achieved through meaningful partnership with a government willing to listen to teachers and act in their best interests.”