UK Report: 'National crisis' looming in teaching, unions warn

 

 

 

A "national crisis" in teacher numbers is looming, six unions representing teachers and school leaders in England and Wales have warned.

 

Government limits to teachers' pay and "real terms cuts" to school budgets risk undermining standards, they warn.

"Teachers need a pay rise," they urge, in a joint statement to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), which sets their pay.

The government said it was attracting "the best and brightest" to teaching.
Teachers' pay increases have been limited to 1% or less for the past five years, and the government aims to keep to this limit for the next four years.

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The teaching challenge by Hannah Richardson

With long, hard working hours and a relatively low starting salary for a graduate, it is hardly surprising that teacher recruitment is struggling.

Qualified teachers in England can expect to start on £22,000 outside London or £27,000 in inner London.

In most cases, this is after post-graduate training, a year's school placement and a degree course.
And although there is room for growth and progression - based on performance of course - many newly-qualified teachers find the pressures of the job too much and leave soon after taking their first post.

Teachers in England have some of the longest hours and largest classes in the developed world, says the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Teaching unions have complained that although their staff were promised a 1% pay rise, this has had to be found from within existing school budgets.

Head teachers say school budgets are already at breaking point as they struggle to deal with other inflationary pressures.

But the DfE maintains new trainees can benefit from financial support, a good salary, enviable job security and a generous pension.

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In October, England's education secretary, Nicky Morgan, wrote to the STRB to remind them of this policy.

'False economy'

But the joint statement warns that "as pay and prospects improve in comparable occupations", further pressure will be placed on teacher recruitment and retention.

This means more children will be taught by teachers who are not specialist in the subjects they teach, it adds.

With budgets "at breaking point", schools will struggle to maintain current spending - "let alone afford pay increases", it continues.

"The government must fully fund the necessary pay increases for teachers and school leaders in both England and Wales."

The six unions are:

• The National Union of Teachers
• The Association of Teachers and Lecturers
• The National Association of Head Teachers
• The Association of School and College Leaders
• UCAC, representing teachers in Wales
• Voice

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, described four more years of pay austerity as a "false economy".


BBC News

Training: UNESCO trains 114 Northeast teachers on Safe School Initiative

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said it had trained 114 teachers in the North-East on Safe School Initiative.

It said that the programme was for the promotion of safety and security of schools in the country.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Anthony Eromosele, Head, Public Relations, Examination Ethics Marshal International, which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

It stated that the teachers who were drawn from schools in Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba were trained as safe school ambassadors, first responders and vigilantes.

It said that the training was to educate the participants on how to conduct risk audit of their schools and how to prepare for emergency.

 

The UN body said that a total of 650 safe school kits which contained a safety manual were also distributed to the teachers.

 

According to the statement, UNESCO had in November, 2014, sponsored the training of 345 teachers from Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states, distributing 1,350 safe school kits to them.
“The training of another batch of 114 Safe School Ambassadors and distribution of additional 650 Safe School kits to teachers from the North-East marks the fourth direct intervention by UNESCO.

 

“The training is aimed at building capacity of education stakeholders on safe schools”.

It stated that beneficiaries of the training commended UNESCO, adding that it was educative and timely as the North-East was presently facing security challenges.

The statement said the beneficiaries urged UNESCO to extend the programme to all education stakeholders in insurgency-affected states, including all teachers, principals, members of staff of education ministries, commissions and boards.

They also called for the extension of the training to supervisory and regulatory authorities to facilitate implementation of recommended policies and programmes.

Today News

News: NUT urges Buhari ro use recovered loot to feed pupils

The Nigeria Union of Teachers has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy money recovered from looters in financing a feeding programme for pupils in public schools.

Buhari had promised to feed schoolchildren during his campaign.

However, more than six months after his inauguration as President, the promise has yet to materialize, prompting questions on how the Buhari-led administration would source funds to finance the project.

The NUT President, Mr. Michael Alogba-Olukoya, on Wednesday argued that recent revelations that certain public officials had started returning stolen wealth was a pointer that the promise could still be fulfilled.

According to him, the government should use the recovered loot to service public education and restore social services.

Alogba-Olukoya said, “The position of the NUT is that the President should continue to sweep all the mess so that Nigeria can return to a position of reckoning in the comity of nations. There is the need to restore confidence in public education in the country. There should be no sacred cow. President Buhari should not forget to feed children attending public schools. Get the money back and use it to feed children of the poor.”

Today News

News: Sokoto buys N44m JAMB forms for students

Sokoto state government has bought JAMB forms worth N44m for 8,000 of its students seeking admission into various tertiary institutions in the country.

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A statement issued Sunday by Malam Imam Imam, the spokesman of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, disclosed that in addition to the payment of the forms, the state government will take over the four Computer Based Examination Centres (CBT) under construction by the Federal Government under the defunct SURE-P intervention programme.

He said the centres, located in Sokoto, Gwadabawa, Wamakko and Tambuwal LGAs, will have a combined capacity of 1,400 computers and will be put to use during the 2016 nationwide JAMB examination.

Meanwhile, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has assured that his administration will continue to sponsor Sokoto indigenes who seek to further their studies outside the shores of Nigeria.
The Governor spoke in Kampala, Uganda, weekend at the graduation ceremony of 236 Sokoto students who bagged various degrees at the Islamic University, in the Eastern African nation.
He said his administration will continue to support exceptional students and will continue to make education his number one priority.


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UNICEF tasks communities on early childhood education

TO bridge the gap between   early childhood education development  in urban cities and  rural areas in Oyo State, the  Education Officer, United Nations International  Children Education Fund  (UNICEF), Mrs.  Justina  Onifade, has called on community  leaders and residents  in all the 33 local government areas  of Oyo State to support early childhood education programmes  in their communities.

She also urged lawmakers at local, state and federal levels to key into the early childhood education programme for its sustenance in their communities.

Mrs Onifade  made  this appeal at  a  one-day stakeholders meeting  on early childhood education in Oyo State, organised by the Universal Basic  Education  Board  in collaboration with UNICEF B-Field  Office, Lagos,  at Wallan Hotel, Ibadan.

According to her, it has  become obvious that government will need community residents’ assistance in  the development process of pre- primary school  programme in their localities.

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Her words: “ It has become imperative for Oyo State government  to comply with the improved school system   of one year pre- primary school programme in the  country. Pre-primary school education  is a national programme  in the country whereby every  child’s education process, from age two and five, irrespective of their backgrounds, takes off before they proceed to primary school. This  new educational system, which is being   introduced in government schools, will afford children the opportunity of knowing the importance of schooling and what its entails before   starting primary school education.

“Recent survey conducted in Oyo State revealed that  there are many of these children across  villages in the state who are still with their mothers, constituting nuisance in the communities,  instead of being in school as their counterparts in urban centres.  This is appealing to lawmakers, philanthropists, at home and abroad  who are indigenes  of the communities to support the development of this  school in their areas. UNICEF  will want the state government to replicate its effort in early childhood education development in the state.”

Speaking earlier, the Permanent  Secretary, State Universal Basic Education Board, Mr. Yinka Osuntogun, represented  by Mrs Lucy  Eniola, the Director, Social  Mobilisation and Information Communication Technology of the board, stated that pre-primary school  programme is a necessity in the Nigerian  education system, stressing that Oyo State government  would  ensure the development and sustenance of the programme in the state.


UNICEF NEWS

4 Ways to Find Your Flow While Working Through the Holidays

Some of us are working through this holiday season – maybe not our regular 9-5pm, but perhaps from home a couple hours each day or a couple of days this week to keep abreast of what’s going on or what to expect when everyone is back in action come January 4.

There’s no better week than now to start to think of your calendar and your time as your investment statement.

Think about it - time is our greatest opportunity AND our greatest liability.

How can we capitalize on this opportunity and minimize the liability?

Take control and choose to look at time, not as something to be “managed”, but as a framework that helps us to find our business rhythm or flow.

Use FLOW is a guide or structure for your business day.

F: Financials and Focus

Ask yourself: Where is my revenue line? Where do I add value to the company? How close to the revenue line is my daily work?

Ask yourself: What is my focus for today, this week, this month, this year?

• The answers to these two questions become the guidelines for building your schedule.
• When you look at your calendar or schedule, enter the activities, projects and tasks FIRST that are closest to the revenue line and your focus.

Now you have ensured that you have time to work on the items that are closest to the revenue line and are the highest priority items. Fill in the other activities around these items.

L: Location

Ask yourself: Do all of my activities/tasks have a place in my calendar?

• As the pace of work continues to speed up, unless projects, meetings and activities, both personal and professional, have a place in your calendar then how can you realistically know how much time you can allot for a task? How can you know that you even have the time to do a task?
• Have you ever packed for a trip and kept adding more and more things to your suitcase? Then your suitcase is so full, you have to sit on it to get it closed. Time is the suitcase. We can only put so many things on our calendar and then we just run out of room. So, does everything have a place in your calendar?

O: Organize

• Ask yourself:If your priority is to increase revenue, then how must you organize your days to support your goal?
• Ask yourself: How must you organize your physical office space to support your goals?

Organize your days around your priorities. Then, structure your environment to support them.

W: Work

Design a system that allows you to flow through your days.
Ask yourself:

• When is your energy high?
• When is your energy low?
• How can you structure your schedule around your energy levels?
• Do you want to do all of your intense, focused work in the morning and respond to customers in the afternoon?
• What type of work can you do when your energy is not at its peak?
• What calendar tool works best for you – paper or electronic?
• How do you process information?
• Do you like to receive information electronically, verbally, or printed?
• Is there a planner, app or computer application that can help you increase your efficiency?
• Can you download contact management software?
• Can you have your assistant enter all of your appointments?
• Have you allowed enough time for you to respond to an urgent deadline, a personal emergency, or for fun?

 Now, make it work for you this week; and then use your key learnings or observations to hit the ground running in ’16.

Happy New Year!

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Credited to:

Carson Tate

Founder, Working Simply