Government and education leaders must work together to address teacher crisis - The Yorkshire Post says

Whilst teacher recruitment and retention has been a major challenge facing the education profession for years, the results of the latest survey from the National Education Union, once again, paint a sobering picture.

Nearly half of England’s state-school teachers plan to quit by 2027 and more than half of teachers more generally say their workload is ‘unmanageable’ most or all of the time.

That’s set against a backdrop of schools continuing to struggle to fill vacant posts, leading to a doubling up of roles and responsibilities that in many cases has worsened since the start of the pandemic.

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Let it not be forgotten that this is one of the sectors that was impacted on an unprecedented scale as a result of Covid. As a large proportion of children were forced to carry out their learning at home, staff had the unenviable challenge of delivering that remote teaching whilst also supporting those still in classrooms.

Teacher recruitment and retention is a big challenge facing the education profession.Teacher recruitment and retention is a big challenge facing the education profession.
Teacher recruitment and retention is a big challenge facing the education profession.
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There is no single or simple solution to the crisis surrounding teacher recruitment and retention but after two years of disruption to education, and amid continuing staff and student absences due to illness, it is imperative that action to get a grip of the situation is taken promptly.

After all, it is not only teachers, heads and leaders - the majority of whom enter education with the hope of making a difference to young people - working in the profession that are impacted, but the children they support too.

The Government needs to work together with education representatives so that those in power not only better understand the issues facing those in the profession but also begin to implement change that, crucially, will help those on the ground to have more manageable workloads and less workplace stress.

Only then will teachers feel more desire and ability to stay - and new recruits to start their career.