PUPILS LOSE OUT AS OLDER, EXPERIENCED TEACHERS ARE FORCED OUT OF THEIR JOBS

PUPILS LOSE OUT AS OLDER, EXPERIENCED TEACHERS ARE FORCED OUT OF THEIR JOBS

Despite the Government extolling the virtues of people working longer, older teachers, particularly women, feel under-valued and are often pressurised to leave their jobs well before their pension age, the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK, has heard today.

Representatives at the Conference in Birmingham debated a motion calling for a culture shift in schools to ensure that older teachers are valued for their experience and expertise and for strategies to tackle the increasing age discrimination against older teachers, including threats of capability procedures and job loss.

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:

“The Government now expects people to work longer, but the irony in teaching is that those with the experience and expertise are in too many cases being hounded out of the profession because they are older and more expensive.

“Older teachers are disproportionately facing being placed on capability procedures, report being denied access to professional development and are often put under intense pressure to leave their job.

“The losers of course are not just the teachers themselves, who often are forced out of a career they love, but the pupils, who are losing experienced, specialist teachers.

“The lack of action by the Government to promote respect and dignity for working people has led to a culture of disrespect and discrimination in schools.”