Teachers’ goodwill hangs by a thread
With Covid-19 cases rising in schools and the testing system buckling, educators are under increasing strain. Now is time for a fair reward for teachers writes ROBERT POOLE

SCHOOLS are back and the coronavirus is on the rise again. All around the country, teachers are trying to make sense of the new regulations to ensure that they and their pupils are safe: year-group “bubbles,” masks in communal spaces, teaching from a small box at the front of the class — the challenges are immense.
But every teacher I know is glad to be back at the chalk face. We’ve missed the interaction with our classes and we know that, for some pupils, school is the one safe place they have.
The one place where they can escape the grinding poverty forced upon them by a decade of Tory austerity. The one place they can get a warm meal.
More from this author

The NEU’s annual conference promises heated debate, with motions on international politics, curriculum reform and union amalgamation likely to provoke strong reactions and challenge the status quo, writes Education for Tomorrow editor ROBERT POOLE

The series unveils uncomfortable truths about youth alienation and online radicalisation — but the real crisis lies in austerity and the absence of class consciousness in addressing young people’s disillusionment, says teacher ROBERT POOLE

From colonialism to the Troubles, the story of England’s first colony is one of exploitation, resistance, and solidarity — and one we should fight to ensure is told, writes teacher ROBERT POOLE

As the government moves to rein in academy freedoms, former darling of conservative education reform Katharine Birbalsingh cries ‘Marxism.’ Education columnist ROBERT POOLE examines how academisation has failed our children while enriching executives and empowering ideologues at the expense of democratic accountability