BLITZ BUREAU
UK’s Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealed plans to recruit 6,500 new teachers, the Department of Education (DfE) said, according to a BBC report.
‘No easy solution ‘
Phillipson said no issues have “quick and easy solutions”, in a letter to those working at all levels of education. The new education secretary wrote to all staff, from early years to higher education, saying she wanted to “reset the relationship” with the sector. The work includes immediately resuming and expanding the teacher recruitment campaign, ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’, the DfE said. The scheme directs potential candidates to the Get Into Teaching website, where they can find support and advice from teacher training advisers, a contact centre and a national programme of events.
The DfE said Phillipson would also meet union bosses and other education leaders in the coming days. Labour pledged during the election campaign to make the recruitment of 6,500 teachers a priority of the new government. The party said it would fund the new posts by adding tax to private school fees – although it is unclear exactly when this will happen.
The policy, proposed in Labour’s manifesto, has split opinion. Some argue it is a reasonable way to raise revenue while others think it is an unfair charge that will fall on parents. Phillipson said she wanted to put education “back at the forefront of national life” and “transform the image” of teaching. The DfE said this was key to fixing the crisis in the recruitment and retention of teachers.
Teaching denigrated
Phillipson said writing to workforces was her “first priority”. She said the teaching profession had been “talked down, sidelined and denigrated” for too long.
Teaching unions, who had strained relations with the previous government, culminating in several days of strike last year, welcomed Phillipson’s message, but called for urgent action on some issues.
