EDUCATION Secretary Damian Hinds will pledge to cut teachers’ hours today to tackle school staff shortages.

Mr Hinds will promise school leaders that the government will “strip away” pointless tasks to allow teachers to “get back to the essence of successful teaching.”

Secondary schools across England have seen an increase in pupil numbers prompted by a spike in the birth rate in the early 2000s, which Mr Hinds will acknowledge makes staff retention difficult.