The current stalemate between the government and education unions over teacher pay does not look like it will resolve itself soon, with ministers unlikely to offer more money this year. While an immediate solution will need be found, poor recruitment and retention make it a problem that is unlikely to go away. So what are the solutions that might be palatable to unions and ministers? Schools Week asked the policy experts… Pay shortage-subject teachers more The prospect of paying teachers in shortage subjects more than others came up in crunch talks this week, and union leaders are less than impressed. Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said that paying staff differently depending on their subject would 鈥渕ake the situation even worse鈥�. 鈥淎ll that teachers will hear is that I鈥檓 doing all this work, holding up society, because all the support services around me have gone. And I鈥檓 now being told that somebody else with a different subject will get more than me. That鈥檚 a terrible narrative for where the profession is now.鈥� But a , from UCL鈥檚 centre for education policy and equalising opportunities, found a 5 per cent salary supplement for shortage subjects could resolve shortfalls. It was also cheaper than recruiting more teachers. Sims told Schools Week that the graduate market had changed, citing the example of physics graduates becoming app developers. 鈥淭he extent to which you can get paid more as a physics graduates outside teaching…has expanded. The gap has grown more than the same gap for somebody who’s a history graduate, for example. And this is probably going to carry on.鈥� However, Sims said the only way to solve the strikes issue in the shorter-term was to pay teachers more, and warned unions would oppose any move towards differentiated pay by subject, because they “could never make it fly with their members”. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the gap between public and private sector pay was now 鈥渓ess favourable to the public sector than at any point in the past 30 years鈥�. Teachers work fewer hours for the same pay In 2019, the government鈥檚 workload survey found the average teacher worked for just under 50 hours a week. One in four worked more than 60 hours a week. Jonathan Simons, a former Downing Street adviser under Gordon Brown and David Cameron, pointed to New Labour鈥檚 2003 agreement with unions to reduce workload through changes to teachers鈥� contracts. Among other things, the agreement brought in planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time as a contractual entitlement. 鈥淎n updated version of that agreement that reduced working hours 鈥� effectively giving teachers more money per hour (as government would present it) could be an alternative to pay increases 鈥� would address one of the major drivers of teachers leaving the profession.鈥� Iain Mansfield, a former DfE special adviser and now head of education at the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange, said ministers, unions and Ofsted should 鈥渨ork together to reduce workloads鈥� rather than focus on pay. The government is also understood to be keen to look at the increasing expectations on schools, often resulting from cuts to other public services, and the 鈥渞ole of schools in the social contract鈥�. A source cited examples, including primary schools providing toilet training and secondary schools policing local parks at the weekend. More money upfront, less in pensions The idea of allowing public sector workers to take more money upfront rather than squirrel it away in their pensions has been floated a number of times. Robert Colvile, the head of the CPS think tank and co-author of the 2019 Conservative manifesto, wrote recently this would give workers a pay bump while 鈥渆asing the long-term pressure on public finances鈥�. Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has talked about the generosity of teachers鈥� pensions when she has been interviewed about pay. Employers currently contribute 23.68 per cent. James Zuccollo, the director for school workforce at the Education Policy Institute, told Schools Week that the ongoing dispute meant it made sense 鈥渢o explore new policy solutions鈥�. 鈥淲hile many will value the security the existing pension plan gives, there are likely some who would prefer to take more salary home instead.” The IFS has also mooted it as a solution. A study found nearly half of public sector staff received employer pension contributions of at least 20 per cent in 2021, compared with just 2 per cent of private sector employees. Zuccollo said several US states had offered teachers a 鈥渄ifferent balance between pay and pension鈥�, with up to a third of teachers opting for the flexibility 鈥渟uggesting some teachers do prefer to take more salary, particularly when they are young鈥�. However, the unions are likely to resist any changes.
Elisabetta Nucifora 27 January 2023 I think workers should be warned against accepting more salary and less pension: old age comes unexpectedly and when it comes there is no chance of putting the clock back and saying: oh gosh, I was wrong. When you are retired you need more in terms of assistance, medications, support, even special food, which can be covered only if you have a nice pension to bank on.