NUT comment on the Schools White Paper

24 November 2010

The Schools White Paper: The Importance of Teaching.

Commenting on the paper, Christine Blower general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’’ union said;

“Michael Gove seems determined to pursue an ideologically driven education agenda that, despite the avowed intentions of the white paper, will increase bureaucracy and Government interference and will increase the divide between schools not close it.

“If the Education Secretary genuinely wishes England to do as well as countries such as Finland, to which he frequently refers in the White Paper, he should follow its example by replacing the inspection system with school self evaluation, refrain from the publication of results by school League Tables and the setting of narrow performance targets and allow teachers to choose their own method of teaching reading.

“The Government says that it wants to raise the status of teaching but at the same time is cutting teacher pay and school funding. We already know that schools in England and Wales will lose out in real terms and the Pupil Premium of which so much is promised is not new money.

“There is already a significant amount of pay flexibility for teachers – national pay provisions are essential to the efficient functioning of a system containing well over 20,000 schools and some half a million teachers.

The Coalition Government needs to end this obsession with floor targets. Many schools work in very challenging circumstances, in some of the most deprived areas in the country, a factor that needs to be taken into account in evaluating schools’ performance.

“While not new, we welcome Michael Gove’s clarification of teachers’ rights to restrain and comfort pupils and have the right to anonymity if being investigated for any allegation made against them.

“The expansion of the academies and Free Schools programme, regardless of any evidence to show that it is the solution to raising attainment in schools, is a wrong move and will lead to a two tier education system.

"The critical job for schools is to teach children, not to train teachers. What is needed is a two year higher education-based course, combining both theory and practice, to ensure we have the best trained teachers possible.

If all children are to be given the chance of a good education, regardless of their background, the Government needs to ensure that classrooms are staffed by fully qualified teachers, class sizes need to be reduced and the poverty gap closed. It is only through taking action on these issues, that progress will be made.

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