At this year’s Labour Party Conference, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has partnered with Teach First to co-host a fringe event on teacher recruitment and retention.
To achieve high-quality outcomes for the most disadvantaged we need motivated and outstanding teachers to enter into the school system and stay there. In recent years, the English education system has seen a rise in the number of teachers leaving the profession and has struggled to recruit new trainees. Over the next 5 years this challenge is only likely to become more acute, as 400,000 additional pupils are expected to enter the secondary school system.
A number of reasons have been attributed to these recruitment and retention difficulties. Teachers cite the growing demands of Ofsted and increasing workloads against a backdrop of stagnating pay and school funding issues as cause of the drop out rates. In hard to recruit subject areas, such as Physics and Maths, EPI research has shown that the teaching profession loses out to other higher paying professions.
The government’s recent strategy for tackling recruitment and retention issues was broadly welcomed by the sector. It committed to investing in disadvantaged areas which disproportionately suffer from recruitment and retention challenges as well as recognising the need to support new teachers.
Looking forward, this session will ask ‘Does the government’s strategy address the right issues, – and does it go far enough to recruit and retain a sufficient number of highly qualified teachers to deal with the imminent rise in pupil numbers?’.
The event will take place between 12:30-14:00 on Monday 23rd September 2019.
Confirmed speakers include: Mike Kane MP (Shadow Schools Minister); David Didau (Education Commentator); Russell Hobby (Chief Executive, Teach First) and Emma Knights OBE (Chief Executive, National Governance Association). The panel will be chaired by Natalie Perera (Executive Director and Head of Research, Education Policy Institute).
** Note: This event will take place in the conference secure zone. To access the secure zone you will need to obtain a pass directly from the Labour Party.**