Bermondsey’s teachers are
brilliant! From the split-site St James Church of England school, to the
vibrant Riverside primary – both graded ‘outstanding’ by
Ofsted, both in the top 6% of schools nationally – our schools are getting
better and better. So, it was disappointing
for many Bermondsey pupils and parents that members of the National
Union of Teachers chose to hold a one-day strike on Thursday of this week, disrupting
the domestic and work lives of some of Britain’s poorest families. Without a time-limited ballot, the union was
able to call-out its members on an old mandate, voted for by a tiny proportion of
its members – hardly democracy in action.
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| Image © Daily Telegraph |
But, with thousands of
schools nationally forced to shut up shop, what was so important that local
parents had little option but to miss work and lose a day’s pay, or find urgent child
care? Well, the NUT cite workload and bureaucracy, performance-related pay, changes
to pensions, talks between government and unions and teacher numbers as the
main reasons. But, four out of five of these
were problems for the NUT under recent Labour governments too – is there
anything that the union agrees with? Stuck
in the 1970s, it doesn’t understand that the world has changed; paying by performance raises standards
and spurs on individuals to work harder and achieve better results.
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| Image © BBC |
Strikes in the education sector do
not work. Dialogue does. Choosing
arbitrarily the issues on which it bases strikes, the NUT ignores a myriad of
other perfectly valid reasons for action: class sizes (30 children is too
many); standards of behaviour and lack of discipline; absence of competitive
sport and learning; lack of parental responsibility and involvement; under-performing teachers. Bermondsey’s teachers
need their unions to act responsibly, defending their interests but acting primarily in
the needs of the children. These strikes test parents' patience, and damage the reputation of the teaching profession.
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| Image © The Guardian |
Thankfully, not all Bermondsey classrooms were closed. The NUT should spend
less time focusing on the needs of the union and vested interests, and more time
fighting for better lives and opportunities for our children. They should promote higher expectations of teachers
and children, encourage a diversity of schools and, yes, share the best practice of the top schools in the state and private sector. Bermondsey’s poorer kids deserve nothing less.
More information:
NUT - 5 reasons to strike
The NUT strike as it happened
10th July strikes
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