The Live Wire



Press Release

NUT on teacher workload

26 April 2011

Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

“Despite measures to reduce teachers' workload, we still have the unacceptable situation of many classroom teachers, heads and deputies working in excess of 50 hours a week. With no limit to the working week, the long hours continue to take their toll on teachers' health and their lives outside work.

“Much of this time is spent on tasks which have little to do with teaching and learning, but are instead generated by unnecessary bureaucratic procedures which have become the bane of teachers' lives.

“A survey on workload by the NUT identified 'less burdensome planning and assessment' as the top measure which would reduce teachers' work. In too many schools, planning and assessment requirements have become formulaic burdens which simply waste teachers' time.

“No teacher works 9 to 5 but it is without a shadow of a doubt unjustifiable that many are worn down with the hours, often including at weekends, they have to work at present. In Scotland, government and employers agreed to put an end to the long-hours culture by setting a maximum working week. It is high time that teachers in England and Wales were able to maintain a decent work/life balance in the same way.”



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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