Ed Balls grills Kevin Courtney over teachers' strikes
The School Teachers’ Review Body has independently recommended that teachers receive a 6.5 percent pay rise this year to retain staff.
The increase is two percentage points higher than the average 4.5 percent offered by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan in March, which was rejected.
Unions have called for Ms Keegan to hold formal discussions over pay after she was given the report last week, as reported by the Sunday Times. Unions are in the process of balloting members for industrial action this autumn.
General secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers Paul Whiteman said the recommendation showed how “out of touch” the Department for Education’s previous offer was.
He said: “Education is in crisis and the Government now needs to listen to the profession and let us help them solve it – 6.5% is progress but we have deep recruitment and retention issues. The Government need to fully fund the award [and] tackle the unresolved pay issues from this year along with easing workload and inspection pressures. The Government urgently needs to return to serious negotiations.”
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The pay rise would cost the Treasury an extra £360 million of extra Government spending if funded in full.
General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Geoff Barton explained: “The Government has a history of short-changing schools. We will need absolute clarity that any pay award really is fully funded for every school.”
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