Teacher Shortage Crisis

Pecker

My kids are in Years 1 & 3.  I'm hoping it all settles down before they get too much further.

My biggest worry is that a member of staff leaves, the school can't find a replacement, and they spend a year of their primary education being taught by a succession of supply staff.

For me, whatever happens now I'm going to have a large chunk of my summer 'holiday' taken.  One of the positive things about our technological age is that I should be able to access an electronic copy of the new GCSE text book, even if we don't get the hard copies for students until sometime in September.

Steve W

Ruperts slippers

I think we have become of obsessed with academic achievement in this country, we now value education and knowledge over experience and practical skills, yet we are disappointed when this academia is not rewarded financially..

A large percentage of academic mastery is about as useful as "Tits on a bull", these academic bench marks  have vey little to do with the world we live in, create a false sense of self righteousness and an abundance of compliant monosyllabic theoretical adults void of common sense and empirical practical skills.
Our poor children are being educated by an heavily regulated system intent on testing and monitoring our children's progress thru the use of pre determined linear inflexible benchmarks, ignoring the ebb and flow of childhood development... Even the teachers know this and is at the very crux of the issues within our schools..

Teaching is important but the country seems awash with academic institutions filling our young peoples minds with knowledge that cannot be utilised and is a poor waste of economic human resources..

Pecker

A third of teacher training places unfilled in Wales - BBC News

Pecker

It's a perfect storm.

Not enough teachers. Not enough money to employ the ones we already have.

Teachers in two-thirds of schools face threat of redundancy, TES survey finds

Steve W

mij

My wife's school has just been told they are becoming an academy, they are being TUPE but some of the teachers have chosen to leave the profession with others choosing to become supply teachers.

It just never stops, constant changes with every new government.  Even before this was announced there was a ridiculous setup of two heads, two deputy heads and a super-head earning more than the PM

I feel for the children.

maclover

I'd happily do some P/T teaching as unqualified if a school was offering

PSM1

Your impression of what happens in a school in terms of learning is a little dated I feel and not based on the actual reality.
There is a lot of emphasis by teachers on not teaching 'monosyllabic theory' as you put it but to make them 'active learners' instead. This then equips them with the skills to learn what ever they want and follow which ever path they want.
Have you actually spent any time to understand the teaching practices used in classrooms etc. before coming up with your theory of what is wrong with the system? Do you understand the curriculum and how it delivered? This information is crucial before deciding how the school system is failing our children!!!

Pecker

So, what are the government doing about this crisis?

Ministers 'have no plan to address teacher shortages'
Ministers 'have no plan to address teacher shortages' - BBC News

Pecker

We discussed the problem earlier caused by immigrant teachers having to earn over a certain amount of they're to be allowed to stay.

Simple solution - let's make exemptions, we said.

Exclusive: DfE attempt to keep thousands of foreign teachers 'likely to fail'

Enki

Party Politics, they can’t really be seen to make exceptions in the current immigration referendum, the message will probably be, work harder and pay for private top up education etc..  Stroll on basic income for all or living income for all.