A recent study by the UK National Foundation for Educational Research, suggests that teachers work longer hours and have seen a sharper drop in pay, compared to police officers and nurses. The results of the study shows that teachers worked 50 hours during term time, compared with 44 for police officers and 39 for nurses.
The findings come amid concerns about teacher workload and staff shortages. The general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Mr. Geoff Barton, said that the research provides further evidence that “many teachers are overloaded and underpaid”. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in problems with staff retention – there is a dwindling number of new teachers joining the profession, and too many teachers are also leaving the profession too early in their careers. This teacher recruitment crisis is driven by unbearably high workloads that lead to unnecessary stress and in many cases, an unacceptable work-life balance.
Mr. Burton also said that while teaching has always been a demanding job, “relentless Government reforms, underfunding and ever-increasing expectations on schools have driven up workload to an intolerable degree”.
In light of this, Education Secretary Damian Hinds, has pledged to cut teacher workload in a bid to improve staff retention. He promised that the Government would “strip away” pointless tasks to allow teachers to “focus on what actually matters.”
This article highlights the extra effort all teachers put in every day. In actual fact, there is much that teachers do behind-the-scenes to ensure they deliver the best and most effective lessons to their students. This includes, preparing detailed lesson plans, various administrative tasks such as marking and setting examination papers, managing students’ co-curricular activities outside of curriculum time, dealing with parents’ and also counselling students under their charge if needed. Truly, being a teacher goes far beyond the classroom and this is something we should all bear in mind. When Teachers’ Day comes, we should all reflect on and recognise the sacrifices of our teachers and show our appreciation to them.
If you want to read more about the study, click the following link:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education- news/teachers-police-officers-nurses-workload-pay-national- foundation-education-research-nfer-a8264046.html