Government plans to tackle teacher retention crisis: education recruiter responds

Following the release of the DfE’s teacher recruitment and retention report, which lays out the latest government strategies aimed at targeting the teacher staffing crisis, an education recruiter has praised the proposed plans, but also urged that more support is given to schools and academies around strategic workforce planning.

The report, titled the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, outlines four key areas that the DfE will focus on: creating supportive school cultures, which includes ‘an active focus on reducing teacher workload’ ; offering support for early career teachers, such as a ‘funded 2-year support package for all new teachers’ ; supporting careers that remain attractive to teachers as their lives develop, through a new ‘job-share service’ ; and making it easier for people to become teachers, by creating a ‘one-stop shop application system.’

Commenting on the report, Baljinder Kuller, who has over 15 years’ experience in education recruitment, and is now Managing Director of online supply teacher portal, The Supply Register, said:

“The staffing shortages within the education sector have been critical for some time, and the fact that the Department for Education has made such a strong attempt to identify the problems causing this is truly commendable. The commitment to expanding flexible working and tackling excessive teacher workload is especially impressive, and something we’ve advocated for a long time. However, what the report fails to identify is that effective workforce planning is key to success, and that schools and academies may need support in this area.’’

‘‘Unless school leaders have the time, resources and expertise to implement the suggested strategies, they won’t be successful. Many schools and academies are trapped in a vicious cycle where understaffing means they do not have the means to enact the DfEs recommendations. However, with a dedicated workforce planning strategy, which deploys existing skills effectively, education leaders can begin boosting retention today, and free up time to focus on long term approaches.’’

ENDS -

Jake Galland
BlueSky PR
Jake@bluesky-pr.com
T: +44 (0)1582 790 090