NASUWT CAMPAIGN ON OVERSEAS TRAINED TEACHERS RECEIVES BOOST

Commenting on the Home Office commission to the Migration Advisory Committee to investigate teacher shortages, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK, said:

“The NASUWT has led calls for the Home Office to reverse policies that would lead to thousands of migrant teachers losing their jobs and facing potential deportation from the UK. I am therefore delighted that the Home Office has remitted the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to investigate teacher supply.

“In its direct engagement with the Home Office and the MAC, the Union has made clear that the impact of a salary threshold on migrant teachers would create serious problems for schools, unfairness for migrant teachers and deny children and young people the opportunity to benefit from the expertise of these highly skilled professionals.

“Given the current recruitment and retention crisis, the introduction of needless barriers to the employment of overseas trained teachers makes no sense.

“The NASUWT will participate fully in the MAC review, building on the correspondence and meetings with officials in the department the NASUWT has had, and will make clear that, like nurses, teachers must be exempted from the salary threshold.”