Editorials

53% of Teachers Planning to Quit

5 October 2015

By Lauren E. White

A survey conducted by the National Union of Teachers has shown that more than half of the teachers in England are thinking about quitting in the next two years.

Of the 53% who said they are thinking about quitting, 61% said they are doing so because of a heavy workload. With new pressures from Ofsted, it is no wonder that the sheer volume of teachers planning to leave is so high as many compare the job they once loved to ‘box-ticking’ instead of actually teaching.

As Schools Minister Nick Gibb has pledged to tackle teacher workload, he should probably hurry, as two thirds of the 1,020 primary and secondary school teachers questioned felt morale in the profession has declined in the past five years. 76% said they disapproved of the government’s decision to force inadequate schools to become academies, 54% were not convinced that new base-line tests for four-year-olds would give a valid record of achievement and 62% said that the 500 new free schools would damage education.

The survey on a whole is very worrying, particularly when the major teaching union in your own school (which was converted to an academy in 2014) is the NUT, but the survey was necessary, too, as it has opened everyone’s eyes to the pressure put on the education system. Just like becoming a GP, teaching is becoming a less and less desired profession because of the workload and the monotony of new exams introduced by the government. It’s painful and disheartening and something needs to be done very soon.

Like this article? Please share!