Commenting on the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s speech at Labour Party Conference, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said:

“We welcome the return of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. Many will one day become teachers where they will serve as role models in their communities, their expert subject knowledge passed down to pupils who benefit in turn.
 
“Breakfast clubs are no doubt making an important difference to pupils, but schools are struggling to cover the costs. Meaningful change requires meaningful funding. The current model may not be sustainable in the long term.

“Teachers will have hoped for more from the Education Secretary’s speech. 79% have experienced more workplace stress in the last year due to their often untenable workloads, and 81% believe their job has adversely affected their mental health. With a recruitment and retention crisis that just won’t go away, teachers have been shouting from the rooftops about the need to restore their pay and improve their working conditions – we have teachers working fifty hour weeks, many of those hours unpaid.
 
“Teachers working in further education, such as the teacher mentioned by the Education Secretary, often earn less and have fewer protections around working conditions than their primary and secondary colleagues. They need more than lip service from the government; they need tangible improvements to their pay and working lives.

“The speech did not answer the calls from teachers to end the long-term underfunding of schools and the need for investment. This was not adequately addressed in the recent spending review or in the speech today. Schools face further cuts while this challenge remains unanswered.

“Real progress has been made for pupils, but we must also see improvements for teachers. The education sector cannot function without them.”