Teachers will have more flexibility to help reverse the recruitment crisis

A Labour plan designed to increase recruitment in the teaching profession will allow teachers to work more from home.

Teachers can perform tasks such as marking and lesson planning away from their normal workplace.

Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary, has stated that the increased flexibility will stop women from leaving their profession after having children.

As yet, the proposals are unofficial. Schools could give teachers free blocks of time to mark and do other work outside of class at the start or end of each day. Teachers would have more flexibility in caring for children and taking on other roles.

According to a government source, “Unlike its predecessors, this government takes the recruitment and retention teachers seriously. That’s why we make commonsense changes so that great teachers can stay in our classrooms.”

The plans are in line with the desire of ministers to combat a “culture” of presenteeism in UK workplaces. The Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds stated this week , that allowing employees to work at home or ignore emails and calls outside of working hours would motivate them.

He told The Times that “good employers understand their workforce to keep them motivated, and resilient, and they do need to evaluate people on outcomes, and not a cultural of presenteeism.”

The Labour Government has promised to help solve the school recruitment crisis by providing 6,500 additional teachers, and introducing an early career retention bonus of PS2,400.

The Employment Rights Bill, expected in the autumn, is expected to give more rights to “switch-off” from work or work more flexiblely.

Teach First’s report, published this week, supports the ministers’ efforts to make teaching more appealing. The report calls for all teachers to have a “flexibility entitlement” that includes short-term work away from schools in other sectors, and career breaks with unpaid leave.

Teach First’s report Tomorrow’s Teachers: A road map for attracting Gen Z found that many young people are not enrolling in teacher training because they perceive the profession as being too stressful and underfunded.

Teach First CEO Russell Hobby stated: “For far too long, the conditions of the teaching profession has not kept pace with the demands and expectations of the next generation.

This means that despite their respect for teachers, Gen Z simply does not sign up in enough numbers.

Data from the Department for Education in England shows that nearly as many people left teaching as joined it last year. According to the school census, 44,002 new teachers were hired in the year up to November 2023. 43,522 left the profession, and teacher vacancies increased by 20%.

Paul Whiteman is the general secretary of NAHT, the union for school leaders. He believes that the best recruitment crisis to hit the sector in recent memory can only be solved by a more flexible work schedule. He said that teaching must find ways to be competitive if they are to solve the crisis of recruitment and retention.

The Guardian was told by a spokesperson for the Department for Education that “Teacher retention and recruitment are in a bad state.” The education secretary is already working to reset the relationship between the government and the sector in order to make teaching a profession that graduates find attractive, competent, and ultimately, the best.

We are taking steps to ease the workload and support teachers, including clarifying teachers can complete their planning at home.

Personnel Today has the latest HR job openings.

Browse Human Resources Jobs