As the Labour Party seeks to shift the focus in politics towards the state of education, they have released analysis indicating that almost a third of teachers who qualified in the last ten years have left the profession. With the results of strike ballots by teaching unions expected soon, the Labour Party has revealed its plans to force its proposal to impose VAT on private school fees through Parliament. They argue that this would help recruit new teachers in the state sector. To achieve this, the Labour Party plans to arrange an opposition day which will include a motion that, if passed, will establish a Common select committee. This committee will closely examine the issue of VAT on private school fees.
Labour’s analysis shows that out of just under 270,000 teachers who qualified in England between 2011 and 2020, over 81,000 have left the profession, accounting for three out of every ten total qualified teachers. In addition, since the last general election in December 2019, 13% of teachers in England who have qualified since have quit, which is equivalent to approximately 3,000 people. Three unions representing teaching staff across England and Wales have started balloting their members on whether to go on strike. There is much unrest about low pay, staff shortages, overworking, and the resulting high levels of stress, which have caused people to leave this profession.
The Labour Party’s move next week is part of a larger strategy to direct attention towards investments in schools, particularly when it comes to staffing, and to highlight their commitment to the VAT plan. The Party expects this proposal to generate £1.7bn annually. In contrast, the Conservatives have dismissed the plan and accused Keir Starmer of waging “class war,” predicting that it would lead to the closure of several private schools. However, Labour believes that the policy will prove popular with the public and argued that it is conceivable that Rishi Sunak’s former school, Winchester, alone could generate a revenue of £10m.
Labour estimates that there are 350,000 qualified teachers who are not currently teaching in the state sector, and they insist that funds from the VAT proposal should cover the cost of training existing staff, as well as recruiting an additional 6,500 teachers. Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, is worried that this “dangerous exodus” of newly qualified teachers might result in a higher teacher vacancy rate in years to come and reduced standards in schools.
To force the government to vote on the matter, Labour intends to make the opposition day motion legally binding. They have used this strategy before in recent history to make sure that the government has to vote on the matter. A Labour source has said that Conservative MPs who vote against their motion are voting against higher standards in state schools for most of the country’s children.
Responding to the Labour Party’s report, a government spokesperson said that the number of teachers in the profession remains high, although they had dropped slightly since 2010. The spokesperson indicated that bursaries and levelling up premiums were being used to attract new teachers to difficult subjects such as maths, science and computing. The government spokesperson also highlighted that they are giving the largest pay raise to experienced teachers for a generation, with up to 8.9% increases to starting salaries.
