Emergency Action Needed to Stop Teachers Quitting, Liberal Democrats Say

Nearly half of teachers surveyed by the Liberal Democrats said they could leave the classroom within five years, exposing the strain facing England’s schools as the new academic year approaches.

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not listening

The survey questioned more than 900 teachers, headteachers, special educational needs coordinators and former teachers. One in 10 respondents still working in education said they planned to leave within a year. More than three-quarters said they had felt frequently or constantly burned out at work.

Respondents pointed to marking, lesson preparation and other duties as major sources of pressure. They said the workload reduced the time they could spend in the classroom. The Liberal Democrats want the government to fully fund a 3.5% teacher pay increase due in England from September, followed by a further 3% increase the following year. At present, half of the increase must come from existing school budgets.

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We rely on teachers to educate our children, the least we can do is make sure they want to come back after the summer.

The party is also calling for enforcement of teachers’ legally mandated working hours and reasonable limits on overtime. Its education spokesperson, Caroline Voaden, said the findings showed that the government was “not listening” to the profession. “We rely on teachers to educate our children, the least we can do is make sure they want to come back after the summer,” she said.

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After over a decade of austerity and chronic underfunding in our schools the system is on its knees.

The National Education Union and the Association of School and College Leaders helped conduct the survey. NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said more than a decade of austerity and chronic underfunding had left the school system “on its knees.” The Department for Education said the rate of teachers leaving the profession was the lowest since 2010 last year, while adding that “more to do” remained.

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more to do