Opposition question new Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy
28 January 2019 (updated on 28 January 2019)
The Shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner, used an urgent question to request a statement from the Government on their new Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which was announced this morning.
The Department for Education's new scheme aims to make teaching a more appealing and sustainable career, and counteract the current difficulties in attracting people to the profession.
- Watch Parliament TV: Teacher Recruitment and Retention strategy
- Read Commons Hansard: Teacher Recruitment and Retention strategy
A survey by the National Association of Headteachers survey suggests that 77 per cent of its school leaders found recruitment a struggle last year and teacher recruitment targets have been missed for six consecutive years. Unions and experts have cited long hours, heavy workloads, challenging circumstances and cuts to education as contributing factors.
- Commons Library Dashboard: Constituency Schools Funding Data
- Government Announcement: New national strategy unveiled to boost teacher numbers [External]
Responding for the Government, Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for School Standards said
"At the heart of the strategy is the early career framework...it underpins what all new teachers will be entitled to be trained in at the start of their career...the early career framework will underpin a fully funded two year package of structured support for early career teachers... By the time the new system is fully in place, we anticipate investing at least an additional £130 million every year to support the early career framework delivery in full"
Angela Rayner, responded by asking where the funding would come from and whether every new teacher would benefit, including those working at academies.
Follow the @HouseofCommons on Twitter for updates on the UK House of Commons Chamber.
Please fill in our quick feedback survey to help us improve our news content.