SOLOMON HUGHES explains how the PM is channelling the spirit of Reagan and Thatcher with a ‘two-tier’ nuclear deterrent, whose Greenham Common predecessor was eventually fought off by a bunch of ‘punks and crazies’
We have to stand up and be counted
The race to the bottom in education cannot be allowed to continue, writes DANIEL KEBEDE
Protesters outside Sheffield Girls' School, as teachers at 23 independent schools within the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) go on strike over pensions, with around 1,500 members of the NEU teaching union involved
NICOLA SARAH HAWKINS explains how an under-regulated introduction of AI into education is already exacerbating inequalities
Susan Galloway talks to ASH REGAN MSP about her “Unbuyable” Bill, seeking to tackle the commercial sexual exploitation of women in Scotland
What began as a regional alliance now courts Australia, Japan and South Korea while preparing three-front warfare — but this overreach accelerates Nato’s own crisis as member states surrender sovereignty to the US, argues SEVIM DAGDELEN
While Hardie, MacDonald and Wilson faced down war pressure from their own Establishment, today’s leadership appears to have forgotten that opposing imperial adventures has historically defined Labour’s moral authority, writes KEITH FLETT
TUC Midlands marks 20 years of celebrating the 1910 chainmakers’ victory with a festival that connects historical lessons to modern struggles — because working-class history should inspire action, not just nostalgia, writes STUART RICHARDS
TEACHERS’ strikes take place today amid a crisis, not just for teacher pay, but for our education system.
The government has once again missed targets for teacher recruitment in secondary schools this year, recruiting only 59 per cent of the teachers needed.
[[{"fid":"48930","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Daniel Kebede","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Daniel Kebede","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"alt":"Daniel Kebede","class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]Unlike previous years, it has also missed the target for primary teachers, in figures that head teachers’ organisations have described as “nothing short of catastrophic.”
This means that children are increasingly being taught by non-subject specialists in subjects like maths and physics and more and more schools have whole classes where they have been unable to recruit a teacher at all.
It is not acceptable that our children’s education suffers because the government is unwilling or unable to do its job.
At the same time 90 per cent of English schools face cuts in 2023, meaning fewer resources in the classroom and cuts to teaching assistants, support roles and services like breakfast clubs.
Schools are being expected to cope with an educational crisis and increasing levels of childhood poverty without the resources to do so.
This is in spite of the successes of the school cuts campaign which forced another £2 billion out of the government in the Autumn Statement.
If it wasn’t for those parents, head teachers and school staff who stood up and said no, things would be even worse for our children and our communities.
That is why our members have to stand up today and be counted. We know that this government won’t listen until it is forced to.
With 300,000 teacher members, and support staff in Wales, voting overwhelmingly to take strike action, that is exactly what we will do.
Our dispute is over pay, because the race to the bottom on terms and conditions, which does so much damage to our children’s education, cannot be allowed to continue.
However, it is also part of a wider campaign for the kind of education system we want to see. Our schools and colleges need to be better funded, and our staff paid properly — including support and supply staff — but they also need to be given greater professional control over what happens in the classroom.
For too long, we have faced diktats from government on curriculum, on pedagogy, with professional educators pushed into teaching in ways that go against their professional judgement, by politicians with no educational expertise at all.
Education has become a political football, with the latest trends enforced by ministerial decree, however flimsy the research evidence.
All of this is backed up by a broken inspection system, which the majority of teachers and senior leaders agree plays no positive role in developing education.
It is time for a bold vision for the kind of education system our young people deserve, where the needs of the child come before the demands of the market — where educational success, not dodgy data and rogue algorithms, is valued.
It is time to take back control of our schools and our education system. When teachers take to the streets today, they will be striking for better pay and increased funding.
They will also be campaigning for the future of our education system.
Daniel Kebede is past president and national officer of the National Education Union.
More from this author
We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
In fighting against racism and fascism, it helps to clearly make the case that division and hatred emerge from the elites and those who stand to benefit from a fractured working class, argues DANIEL KEBEDE
Every student needs an anti-racist education and teachers need appropriate training and encouragement to help bring about an end to racial exclusion and fear, writes DANIEL KEBEDE of the National Education Union
The trade union movement needs to step up to confront the menace of fascism head on, argues DANIEL KEBEDE
