The Live Wire



Press Release

Academy members hear 'yes' vote call

7 November 2011

Members working in academy schools have been urged to 'stand up for standards' and vote yes in the Union's industrial action ballot.

The NASUWT is committed to supporting its members in academy schools and held a briefing at its Birmingham headquarters to hear the concerns and thoughts of activists as the Union heads into possible industrial action later this term.

Delegates heard that NASUWT research shows that the programme of cuts and reforms being imposed by the Coalition Government on teachers and schools is being particularly felt by those working in academies. A greater percentage of teachers in academy schools say they feel professionally disempowered and not respected by school management.

This may be partly due to the Coalition's relentless focus on structural change at the expense of supporting and developing the profession, suggested Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT. “It is clear that structural reform doesn't raise standards, what raises standards are teachers. It is their dedication and commitment which is key and the Coalition seem to have lost sight of that.”

Teachers in academies are suffering the same threats to their pay and working conditions as teachers in the maintained sector, Ms Keates told the seminar, but members in academies are also facing additional threats, including the removal of the requirement for teachers to hold qualified teacher status which threatens the status of the profession and could drag down salaries in the longer term. There is also a move towards chains of academies, in some cases resulting in academies being taking over by new sponsors, causing great uncertainty for staff working in those schools.

All of these threats have led the NASUWT to ballot members for industrial action and Dr Patrick Roach, Deputy General Secretary of the NASUWT, outlined the Union's strategy which focuses on taking action short of strike action to enable teachers to focus on their core role of teaching and learning.

He said: “The action is about recognising your professionalism and using intelligent measures to achieve the best outcomes for members.”



Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd