5 days ago
There won't be any teachers left in Wales without investment, UCAC says
There will not be any teachers left without more investment, a union has warned, as increasing numbers of people quit the general secretary Ioan Rhys Jones said the "enormous workload" facing teachers must be tackled if Wales wanted to see more people going into teaching. Some of UCAC's members have reported having to work during their lunch breaks, with others working until 22:00, said Mr Welsh government said it was providing an extra £262.5m to the education sector, adding this was "in addition to the increased funding to local authorities to support public services, including schools".
"Saying that teachers have 13 weeks of holidays a year, and that they only work from nine to half three, doesn't give you the whole picture," said Mr Jones. "They have meetings, in some schools we're talking about two to three extra hours per week, and on top of all that, when do teachers get the time to plan and mark work? That can't be done between nine and half three."Lowri Mai Jones, from Llandygai, near Bangor, Gwynedd, gave up teaching to start her own nail studio. She said leaving the classroom was "a very big step" at the time."From my experience, I would stay in the school until about half five, then I would come home, make dinner, sort the children and then go back to do more work," adding there was still work to do in the holidays. "It's a job that brought me great satisfaction, but with raising a family it didn't fit in with my personal life," she added. She said her mind was clearer now she did not have the "demands" that come with teaching. Last month, the Education Workforce Council warned the Senedd's education committee that Wales was only training about a third of the secondary school teachers it needed. In a statement, the Welsh government acknowledged schools were struggling with recruitment and retention of staff. It added: "We are making significant progress in tackling staff workload, and have generous financial incentives to attract new teachers in priority subjects.
