Foreign teachers are being offered £10,000 to work in English schools in an overseas recruitment drive by ministers to fill classroom vacancies.
Hundreds of maths, science and language teachers will be brought in from countries such as India and Nigeria this year, with plans to expand recruitment schemes to other countries and subjects.
Applications for teacher training courses from outside Europe have surged this year, highlighting tensions in the government’s approach to immigration. Net migration hit a record of 606,000 last year, figures published by the Office for National Statistics this week showed.
Unions have criticised a “desperate” attempt to use overseas staff as a sticking plaster to avoid giving existing staff a bigger pay rise as schools struggle with a chronic shortage of homegrown teachers and protracted strikes. In an effort to boost numbers, ministers have quietly begun an overseas recruitment initiative under which the rules have changed to more easily recognise maths, science and language-teaching qualifications from Ghana
The countries are considered to have historical education links to Britain and teachers interested in working here. Making it easier for them to gain qualified teacher status puts teachers from these countries on a par with those from Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Teachers must have a degree, recognised teacher-training qualifications and at least a year’s experience. They need to speak English to undergraduate level.
Teachers are eligible for visas to work in Britain if they have a job offer and earn a minimum salary that depends on their role, typically at least £27,000.
Hundreds of teachers are expected to come in through this route in the next academic year and officials expect in future to include more countries and subjects. In addition, the Department for Education has begun to offer £10,000 “international relocation payments” to overseas physics and language teachers to cover visa and moving expenses. Officials expect between 300 and 400 teachers to get the payments in the coming academic year and if it proves a success in attracting overseas staff ministers are planning to extend eligibility to other subjects. In 2022-23 only about 400 teachers arrived from outside Europe.
Agencies in countries such as Nigeria are tempting teachers with salaries up to £53,000 and the ability to bring family to Britain. Fewer than half the targeted number of trainee secondary teachers are due to start this autumn. In some subjects it is less than 20 per cent, with biology, history, classics and PE the only areas on track to meet government targets, according the National Foundation for Educational Research.
By May last year there were 2,310 applications to train to be teachers that autumn from applicants outside the UK and EU, out of 78,539 in total. By this month there have been 5,781 applications from the same areas, out of a total of 95,390. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said overseas recruitment “is, at best, a temporary solution”.
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said: “Labour will . . . drive high standards in state schools by ending tax breaks for private schools.”
Aashti Zaidi Hai, chief executive of the Global Schools Forum charity, said: “The UK decision to actively recruit from several African countries could set back the education of children on a continent where 86 per cent are unable to read a simple text by the age of ten.”
The Department for Education said: “We are actively looking to boost the numbers of qualified teachers.”
Rishi Sunak was clear (Chris Smyth writes). “Numbers are too high, it’s as simple as that. And I want to bring them down,” he said.
But while the government is clear it does not like immigration in general, it seems to like most particular types of immigrant. Skilled workers have been welcomed across swathes of the economy struggling with a million vacancies.
It is hardly surprising that teachers will be next. Recruitment and retention of teachers is going from bad to worse — after a blip in applications during Covid, when it was seen as a stable profession.
Unions acknowledge that overseas recruitment “might bring some limited relief to school leaders searching to plug workforce gaps”, but the fear is that, as in so many other sectors, immigration becomes a crutch propping up failure to attract enough home-grown talent.
School leaders need only look to their local hospital to see where this could lead. While the NHS has always brought in overseas staff, reliance has accelerated dramatically in recent years as the Treasury has resisted training more British doctors and nurses.
Two thirds of the increase in nurses since 2019 comes from those trained abroad.
This has led to ethical controversies about disrupting fragile health systems abroad.
At the moment foreign teacher numbers are relatively small, but as they increase, schools will have to wrestle with similar dilemmas.
Diana Mahon left teaching after 32 years because of increased demands on her time
Diana Mahon left teaching after 32 years because of increased demands on her time
IAN FORSYTH FOR THE TIMES
Case study
Diana Mahon was a teacher for 32 years in state and private schools in the north and south of England and in wealthy and deprived areas (Nicola Woolcock writes). She left the profession in 2019 because of high demands.
She said: “I was initially an infant teacher in socially deprived areas of North Shields and Sunderland. After this I taught in a Montessori convent school, then spent nine years as senior manager with a schools trust in Sunderland.” After moving to Sevenoaks in Kent, she took up a position as head of juniors at a boys’ prep school.
She said: “I left in 2019 after deciding to move closer to my elderly mother in the northeast. The move was coupled with an increasing sense that independent teaching, while viewed as brilliant by my state colleagues, was also creaking [because of] increasing special education needs and disabilities which couldn’t be met in the state system.”
She added: “I loved teaching initially, I loved everything about my career, however the increasing safeguarding load detracted from my teaching and consumed my time.”
Mahon’s daughter has just left teaching after 11 years, working at schools in west and east London. She said: “My daughter was an outstanding teacher and was straining under the workload.”
Another teacher, who taught art and design for 16 years in secondary schools in the northeast, said: “ I would love to return to the classroom, but I can’t go back until I know that it’s a job which won’t decimate my mental health.”
But no money to stop teachers leaving in droves. Yesterday we said goodbye to a teacher who was off because he will make more money and have less stress back in industry
It seems as if the government, after years of educational sector neglect, has suddenly been jolted awake by the teacher shortage crisis. But instead of nurturing domestic talent and encouraging more individuals into the teaching profession, they’re opting for quick fixes – throwing money at overseas teachers to come fill the gaps.
What message does this convey to potential homegrown teachers? Why would anyone choose to invest their time and money into obtaining a teaching qualification, not to mention tackling the hefty student debt, when they see the government willing to offer a hefty £10,000 bonus to an overseas teacher?Moreover, the vast majority of these foreign teachers likely have not had to shoulder the financial burden of the UK’s expensive educational system. It’s as if we’re saying, “Why invest in training and education here, when you can simply wait for the government to throw money at foreign professionals to come take your job?”
This knee-jerk solution not only undermines our domestic education sector, but it also sets a dangerous precedent – of treating symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. It’s like putting a plaster on a wound that requires stitches – sure, it covers the problem for a while, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying issue. In fact, it might even make it worse in the long run. This sort of short-sightedness is all too common in policy-making, and it’s the teachers, students, and the future of our country that pay the price.
If teachers in England want more money – just move to Scotland.
>But while the government is clear it does not like immigration in general, it seems to like most particular types of immigrant. Skilled workers have been welcomed across swathes of the economy struggling with a million vacancies.
The way I see it, these purported worker shortages in various sectors are somewhat of a charade. I mean, why would a company hire a local professional when they can exploit this convenient loophole, bringing in an immigrant worker often at half the cost? This has been glaringly apparent post-Sunak’s infamous IR35 changes, especially within the realm of IT.
Big consultancy firms, armed with a fresh army of developers from places like India, have manipulated these changes to their benefit. They buy labour cheap, then sell these services to UK businesses at typical rate of £500 a day and often more. You may wonder, why don’t the businesses just hire locally? Well, the IR35 changes have practically paralysed small British businesses from offering the same services. The result? A void in the market that these rapacious consultancies have leapt to fill.
So, these shortages aren’t about a lack of skilled workers in the UK. No, they’re about the government’s devious scheming that allows companies to undercut British labour and then profit obscenely. It’s not a “worker shortage”, it’s a stitch up, designed to line the pockets of these consultancies. And it’s us, the hard-working Brits, and our economy, who are getting short-changed in this sly deal.
I’m a teacher due to leave after the summer term due to poor pay.
What is utterly ridiculous about this is that the conservatives will still stand up and say they want to reduce immigration.
But when given the choice between increasing my teachers salary to a competitive level (I have a maths degree, I have options) or shipping in people from India. They’ll choose the immigrants every time.
And that this comes in the very same parliament that had Johnson talking about building a high wage high skill economy. It’s like something out of monty python.
Fine, the conservatives are liars. Big shock. But there’s a massive portion of the country that somehow despite all the evidence still take them at their word.
It’s beyond belief. A fair chunk of Conservative voters are just idiots. Not because they vote for a party that I disagree with but simply because they’re voting for a party that actually supports things that **they themselves** disagree with.
I mean if you could characterise the daily mail readership’s political views, two leading issues would likely be wanting less immigration and wanting criminals to be dealt with harshly. Then they vote for a party that cuts court, prison and police funding to the point that some crimes may as well be legal. And then ships in foreign labour at a record pace to drive down wages. As I said it’s beyond belief.
>Teachers are eligible for visas to work in Britain if they have a job offer and earn a minimum salary that depends on their role, typically at least £27,000.
>offer £10,000 “international relocation payments” to overseas physics and language teachers to cover visa and moving expenses.
If I’d have been offered this as an opportunity out of university, I’d have taken it and relocated for that amount.
Is anything like this actually offered to people who would willingly do the job here? If it is then it needs to be advertised alot better.
I think most of us would agree that teaching is a graduate job and requires a degree and for a graduate job the pay of £27k is awfully close to the boundary for even paying a student loan.
Change the number to £40k and I expect the shortage of teachers will drop off the side of a cliff. I would wouldn’t be absolutely against changing to the career myself.
Wasn’t just two days ago we all agreed immigration was too high? Why can’t we chnage the system to make it attractive for uk nationals to work in. Improve pay, reduce paperwork and somehow change parents and child mentality to respecting teachers
So they’ll give £10k to those in foreign countries to come and teach but charge people in this country £10k to become teachers
How about giving current teachers a fair wage, praising those who have stayed in the field and make sure school are being run like educational establishments instead of businesses.
Wasn’t there a scheme 10-15 years go, to get STEM teachers where their student loan was paid off. For all of those I know who went into teaching in that time, none of them have stayed. They should look at fixing the root cause of the problems instead of throwing money at the problem. Those who are good teachers aren’t driven by money, they do it because they care, they want the kids to succeed, just give them the time and resources to actually teach without all the politics.
Another problem is qualifications. The UK has standardised testing to a certain level. If someone has a degree, you know they have a certain level of knowledge. I’ve met a few graduates from other countries and ability varies wildly. An engineering graduate from Libya who couldn’t even do GCSE level maths. A maths graduate from India who couldn’t do basic trigonometry. Another graduate from India who was absolutely outstanding, one of the best teachers I’ve met, different university from the first one. If you think some teachers are poor now, give it a few years.
I used to be a teacher. I don’t get as many holidays but I have a lot less stress. My job lets me work from home two days a week and as long as the world gets done they are very flexible. I’m not in a state of exhaustion waiting for the next holiday so I can decompress and recuperate.
I’m working in a high pressure industry with th lots of money involved but I don’t feel nearly as much stress. I really don’t feel like I work that hard but everyone commends me for my effort. The amount of work involved in teaching is insane. I can clock off at 5 and not think about work. That was impossible before.
Teaching is criminally undervalued. It’s me of the most important roles in our society and teachers deserve to be paid a lot more. A LOT more.
I miss being in a classroom but I could never ever go back. My quality of life is so much better now. Maybe if I win the lottery.
They are not even funding the pay rise that they just negotiated with the teachers. It is supposed to come from existing budgets.
Meanwhile British teachers head overseas in droves.
It’s quite common to take out a student loan to train to be a teacher and then to instantly accept a job in a foreign country once you’ve gotten your PGCE.
I don’t blame any teacher for wanting to do this. Your money goes so much further and behaviour seems to be less of an issue.
Teachers deserve a medal, the shit they put up with from kids. Things need to change!
Teaching is a tough job and trying to teach in a country where you are not familiar with the culture, curriculum and educational structure is only going to be tougher. £10k is not going to be worth it for many foreign teachers. This scheme will work about as well as the government’s attempt to get ex-military into teaching.
I’d have been a teacher, and a good one, if not for the fact that I’ve seen it ruin at least three lives first hand. I do wonder how many people out there would do it or go back to it if it weren’t for the reputation it’s gained as an absolutely soul-destroying profession, run by bullies, in which you are required to sacrifice any semblance of a personal life?
They’re always focusing on more and more cash incentives to go into teaching but little into retention. Lots of teachers quit a year or two into the job. There’s too much bullshit and unrealistic demands for student improvement/performance. That and the conflicts with some students, parents and the types of people often promoted to senior roles in schools, drives decent people out. A lot of the most experienced teachers are not replaced as they retire or are actively squeezed out by schools tightening their budgets. Overall the average level of experience of teachers must be lower than in the past and that is the worse for students, and for the development of teachers. You don’t need bigger and bigger incentives for training, you need to pay more, reward staff retention, reduce the workload, better work-life balance, address toxic student behaviour, and cut down on the oppressive culture that’s directed down by senior staff wanting to grind out results and appease Ofsted,
The pay in the job isn’t worth the pressure and conflict for many people. The pay just isn’t that much for the evenings and weekends that it can often cost you, as much as you try to avoid working them. Yes, you can refuse to do this, and just not do much marking and the like, but you’ll get a black mark by senior staff for it and always get criticism for not doing enough. You’ll get overlooked in favour of people who do work themselves to death and tick the boxes, for promotions to other leading academic or pastoral roles with a bit more pay.
This isn’t exclusive to teaching by any means, but it’s a factor when considering the career. When I was working in London I couldn’t afford to even think about working long term because I couldn’t save for the deposit on a home. Would love to have stayed, but cannot be done in practical terms. Like many teachers, I did London a few years, really enjoyed the experience, and then had to leave.
I’m a teacher and emigrated as soon as I completed my NQT
20 comments
Foreign teachers are being offered £10,000 to work in English schools in an overseas recruitment drive by ministers to fill classroom vacancies.
Hundreds of maths, science and language teachers will be brought in from countries such as India and Nigeria this year, with plans to expand recruitment schemes to other countries and subjects.
Applications for teacher training courses from outside Europe have surged this year, highlighting tensions in the government’s approach to immigration. Net migration hit a record of 606,000 last year, figures published by the Office for National Statistics this week showed.
Unions have criticised a “desperate” attempt to use overseas staff as a sticking plaster to avoid giving existing staff a bigger pay rise as schools struggle with a chronic shortage of homegrown teachers and protracted strikes. In an effort to boost numbers, ministers have quietly begun an overseas recruitment initiative under which the rules have changed to more easily recognise maths, science and language-teaching qualifications from Ghana
The countries are considered to have historical education links to Britain and teachers interested in working here. Making it easier for them to gain qualified teacher status puts teachers from these countries on a par with those from Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Teachers must have a degree, recognised teacher-training qualifications and at least a year’s experience. They need to speak English to undergraduate level.
Teachers are eligible for visas to work in Britain if they have a job offer and earn a minimum salary that depends on their role, typically at least £27,000.
Hundreds of teachers are expected to come in through this route in the next academic year and officials expect in future to include more countries and subjects. In addition, the Department for Education has begun to offer £10,000 “international relocation payments” to overseas physics and language teachers to cover visa and moving expenses. Officials expect between 300 and 400 teachers to get the payments in the coming academic year and if it proves a success in attracting overseas staff ministers are planning to extend eligibility to other subjects. In 2022-23 only about 400 teachers arrived from outside Europe.
Agencies in countries such as Nigeria are tempting teachers with salaries up to £53,000 and the ability to bring family to Britain. Fewer than half the targeted number of trainee secondary teachers are due to start this autumn. In some subjects it is less than 20 per cent, with biology, history, classics and PE the only areas on track to meet government targets, according the National Foundation for Educational Research.
By May last year there were 2,310 applications to train to be teachers that autumn from applicants outside the UK and EU, out of 78,539 in total. By this month there have been 5,781 applications from the same areas, out of a total of 95,390. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said overseas recruitment “is, at best, a temporary solution”.
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said: “Labour will . . . drive high standards in state schools by ending tax breaks for private schools.”
Aashti Zaidi Hai, chief executive of the Global Schools Forum charity, said: “The UK decision to actively recruit from several African countries could set back the education of children on a continent where 86 per cent are unable to read a simple text by the age of ten.”
The Department for Education said: “We are actively looking to boost the numbers of qualified teachers.”
Rishi Sunak was clear (Chris Smyth writes). “Numbers are too high, it’s as simple as that. And I want to bring them down,” he said.
But while the government is clear it does not like immigration in general, it seems to like most particular types of immigrant. Skilled workers have been welcomed across swathes of the economy struggling with a million vacancies.
It is hardly surprising that teachers will be next. Recruitment and retention of teachers is going from bad to worse — after a blip in applications during Covid, when it was seen as a stable profession.
Unions acknowledge that overseas recruitment “might bring some limited relief to school leaders searching to plug workforce gaps”, but the fear is that, as in so many other sectors, immigration becomes a crutch propping up failure to attract enough home-grown talent.
School leaders need only look to their local hospital to see where this could lead. While the NHS has always brought in overseas staff, reliance has accelerated dramatically in recent years as the Treasury has resisted training more British doctors and nurses.
Two thirds of the increase in nurses since 2019 comes from those trained abroad.
This has led to ethical controversies about disrupting fragile health systems abroad.
At the moment foreign teacher numbers are relatively small, but as they increase, schools will have to wrestle with similar dilemmas.
Diana Mahon left teaching after 32 years because of increased demands on her time
Diana Mahon left teaching after 32 years because of increased demands on her time
IAN FORSYTH FOR THE TIMES
Case study
Diana Mahon was a teacher for 32 years in state and private schools in the north and south of England and in wealthy and deprived areas (Nicola Woolcock writes). She left the profession in 2019 because of high demands.
She said: “I was initially an infant teacher in socially deprived areas of North Shields and Sunderland. After this I taught in a Montessori convent school, then spent nine years as senior manager with a schools trust in Sunderland.” After moving to Sevenoaks in Kent, she took up a position as head of juniors at a boys’ prep school.
She said: “I left in 2019 after deciding to move closer to my elderly mother in the northeast. The move was coupled with an increasing sense that independent teaching, while viewed as brilliant by my state colleagues, was also creaking [because of] increasing special education needs and disabilities which couldn’t be met in the state system.”
She added: “I loved teaching initially, I loved everything about my career, however the increasing safeguarding load detracted from my teaching and consumed my time.”
Mahon’s daughter has just left teaching after 11 years, working at schools in west and east London. She said: “My daughter was an outstanding teacher and was straining under the workload.”
Another teacher, who taught art and design for 16 years in secondary schools in the northeast, said: “ I would love to return to the classroom, but I can’t go back until I know that it’s a job which won’t decimate my mental health.”
But no money to stop teachers leaving in droves. Yesterday we said goodbye to a teacher who was off because he will make more money and have less stress back in industry
It seems as if the government, after years of educational sector neglect, has suddenly been jolted awake by the teacher shortage crisis. But instead of nurturing domestic talent and encouraging more individuals into the teaching profession, they’re opting for quick fixes – throwing money at overseas teachers to come fill the gaps.
What message does this convey to potential homegrown teachers? Why would anyone choose to invest their time and money into obtaining a teaching qualification, not to mention tackling the hefty student debt, when they see the government willing to offer a hefty £10,000 bonus to an overseas teacher?Moreover, the vast majority of these foreign teachers likely have not had to shoulder the financial burden of the UK’s expensive educational system. It’s as if we’re saying, “Why invest in training and education here, when you can simply wait for the government to throw money at foreign professionals to come take your job?”
This knee-jerk solution not only undermines our domestic education sector, but it also sets a dangerous precedent – of treating symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. It’s like putting a plaster on a wound that requires stitches – sure, it covers the problem for a while, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying issue. In fact, it might even make it worse in the long run. This sort of short-sightedness is all too common in policy-making, and it’s the teachers, students, and the future of our country that pay the price.
If teachers in England want more money – just move to Scotland.
>But while the government is clear it does not like immigration in general, it seems to like most particular types of immigrant. Skilled workers have been welcomed across swathes of the economy struggling with a million vacancies.
The way I see it, these purported worker shortages in various sectors are somewhat of a charade. I mean, why would a company hire a local professional when they can exploit this convenient loophole, bringing in an immigrant worker often at half the cost? This has been glaringly apparent post-Sunak’s infamous IR35 changes, especially within the realm of IT.
Big consultancy firms, armed with a fresh army of developers from places like India, have manipulated these changes to their benefit. They buy labour cheap, then sell these services to UK businesses at typical rate of £500 a day and often more. You may wonder, why don’t the businesses just hire locally? Well, the IR35 changes have practically paralysed small British businesses from offering the same services. The result? A void in the market that these rapacious consultancies have leapt to fill.
So, these shortages aren’t about a lack of skilled workers in the UK. No, they’re about the government’s devious scheming that allows companies to undercut British labour and then profit obscenely. It’s not a “worker shortage”, it’s a stitch up, designed to line the pockets of these consultancies. And it’s us, the hard-working Brits, and our economy, who are getting short-changed in this sly deal.
I’m a teacher due to leave after the summer term due to poor pay.
What is utterly ridiculous about this is that the conservatives will still stand up and say they want to reduce immigration.
But when given the choice between increasing my teachers salary to a competitive level (I have a maths degree, I have options) or shipping in people from India. They’ll choose the immigrants every time.
And that this comes in the very same parliament that had Johnson talking about building a high wage high skill economy. It’s like something out of monty python.
Fine, the conservatives are liars. Big shock. But there’s a massive portion of the country that somehow despite all the evidence still take them at their word.
It’s beyond belief. A fair chunk of Conservative voters are just idiots. Not because they vote for a party that I disagree with but simply because they’re voting for a party that actually supports things that **they themselves** disagree with.
I mean if you could characterise the daily mail readership’s political views, two leading issues would likely be wanting less immigration and wanting criminals to be dealt with harshly. Then they vote for a party that cuts court, prison and police funding to the point that some crimes may as well be legal. And then ships in foreign labour at a record pace to drive down wages. As I said it’s beyond belief.
>Teachers are eligible for visas to work in Britain if they have a job offer and earn a minimum salary that depends on their role, typically at least £27,000.
>offer £10,000 “international relocation payments” to overseas physics and language teachers to cover visa and moving expenses.
If I’d have been offered this as an opportunity out of university, I’d have taken it and relocated for that amount.
Is anything like this actually offered to people who would willingly do the job here? If it is then it needs to be advertised alot better.
I think most of us would agree that teaching is a graduate job and requires a degree and for a graduate job the pay of £27k is awfully close to the boundary for even paying a student loan.
Change the number to £40k and I expect the shortage of teachers will drop off the side of a cliff. I would wouldn’t be absolutely against changing to the career myself.
Wasn’t just two days ago we all agreed immigration was too high? Why can’t we chnage the system to make it attractive for uk nationals to work in. Improve pay, reduce paperwork and somehow change parents and child mentality to respecting teachers
So they’ll give £10k to those in foreign countries to come and teach but charge people in this country £10k to become teachers
How about giving current teachers a fair wage, praising those who have stayed in the field and make sure school are being run like educational establishments instead of businesses.
Wasn’t there a scheme 10-15 years go, to get STEM teachers where their student loan was paid off. For all of those I know who went into teaching in that time, none of them have stayed. They should look at fixing the root cause of the problems instead of throwing money at the problem. Those who are good teachers aren’t driven by money, they do it because they care, they want the kids to succeed, just give them the time and resources to actually teach without all the politics.
Another problem is qualifications. The UK has standardised testing to a certain level. If someone has a degree, you know they have a certain level of knowledge. I’ve met a few graduates from other countries and ability varies wildly. An engineering graduate from Libya who couldn’t even do GCSE level maths. A maths graduate from India who couldn’t do basic trigonometry. Another graduate from India who was absolutely outstanding, one of the best teachers I’ve met, different university from the first one. If you think some teachers are poor now, give it a few years.
I used to be a teacher. I don’t get as many holidays but I have a lot less stress. My job lets me work from home two days a week and as long as the world gets done they are very flexible. I’m not in a state of exhaustion waiting for the next holiday so I can decompress and recuperate.
I’m working in a high pressure industry with th lots of money involved but I don’t feel nearly as much stress. I really don’t feel like I work that hard but everyone commends me for my effort. The amount of work involved in teaching is insane. I can clock off at 5 and not think about work. That was impossible before.
Teaching is criminally undervalued. It’s me of the most important roles in our society and teachers deserve to be paid a lot more. A LOT more.
I miss being in a classroom but I could never ever go back. My quality of life is so much better now. Maybe if I win the lottery.
They are not even funding the pay rise that they just negotiated with the teachers. It is supposed to come from existing budgets.
Meanwhile British teachers head overseas in droves.
It’s quite common to take out a student loan to train to be a teacher and then to instantly accept a job in a foreign country once you’ve gotten your PGCE.
I don’t blame any teacher for wanting to do this. Your money goes so much further and behaviour seems to be less of an issue.
Teachers deserve a medal, the shit they put up with from kids. Things need to change!
Teaching is a tough job and trying to teach in a country where you are not familiar with the culture, curriculum and educational structure is only going to be tougher. £10k is not going to be worth it for many foreign teachers. This scheme will work about as well as the government’s attempt to get ex-military into teaching.
I’d have been a teacher, and a good one, if not for the fact that I’ve seen it ruin at least three lives first hand. I do wonder how many people out there would do it or go back to it if it weren’t for the reputation it’s gained as an absolutely soul-destroying profession, run by bullies, in which you are required to sacrifice any semblance of a personal life?
They’re always focusing on more and more cash incentives to go into teaching but little into retention. Lots of teachers quit a year or two into the job. There’s too much bullshit and unrealistic demands for student improvement/performance. That and the conflicts with some students, parents and the types of people often promoted to senior roles in schools, drives decent people out. A lot of the most experienced teachers are not replaced as they retire or are actively squeezed out by schools tightening their budgets. Overall the average level of experience of teachers must be lower than in the past and that is the worse for students, and for the development of teachers. You don’t need bigger and bigger incentives for training, you need to pay more, reward staff retention, reduce the workload, better work-life balance, address toxic student behaviour, and cut down on the oppressive culture that’s directed down by senior staff wanting to grind out results and appease Ofsted,
The pay in the job isn’t worth the pressure and conflict for many people. The pay just isn’t that much for the evenings and weekends that it can often cost you, as much as you try to avoid working them. Yes, you can refuse to do this, and just not do much marking and the like, but you’ll get a black mark by senior staff for it and always get criticism for not doing enough. You’ll get overlooked in favour of people who do work themselves to death and tick the boxes, for promotions to other leading academic or pastoral roles with a bit more pay.
This isn’t exclusive to teaching by any means, but it’s a factor when considering the career. When I was working in London I couldn’t afford to even think about working long term because I couldn’t save for the deposit on a home. Would love to have stayed, but cannot be done in practical terms. Like many teachers, I did London a few years, really enjoyed the experience, and then had to leave.
I’m a teacher and emigrated as soon as I completed my NQT