Education Minister expresses hope that industrial action can be avoided following Teaching Unions’ Industrial Action Ballot results
Education Minister Paul Givan has expressed hope that significant progress made through negotiations over the summer can be concluded positively to avoid industrial action.
Paul Givan said: “Since becoming Education Minister, I have delivered unprecedented pay rises for teachers and support staff in a very challenging financial environment.
“I have been fully committed to reducing teacher and school leader workload as I recognise the pressures facing our teaching workforce. My Department has been working to deliver practical measures that support teachers and school leaders in their work.
“At my request, a panel was established to identify workload-related issues. The panel’s recommendations have been taken forward and the employers along with my Department are committed to implementing them. Significant progress has been made through the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) conciliation process.”
Ulster Unionist Party leader and Education spokesperson Jon Burrows MLA has implored Education Minister Paul Givan to tackle teacher workload as a matter of urgency, after members of five teaching unions voted decisively for industrial action.
Jon Burrows MLA said: “The ballot result should come as no surprise. I have visited schools across Northern Ireland and heard the same concerns time and again: teachers and classroom assistants feel overworked and under-supported.
“The fundamental problem is that there are not enough hours in the day for teachers to fulfil the ever-growing list of responsibilities placed upon them.
“They are expected to deliver high-quality classroom teaching while also managing lesson planning, marking, differentiated learning, special educational needs provision, classroom cover, meetings with parents, engagement with the Education Authority, breaktime and lunchtime supervision, and a growing burden of administration.
“For many, teaching has become the art of doing the impossible. Workloads have reached the point where dedicated professionals are continually asked to sacrifice their evenings, weekends and family time just to keep their schools functioning.
“If we are serious about improving staff wellbeing, retaining experienced teachers and delivering better educational outcomes, the Minister must be prepared to rethink what a teacher’s working day looks like.
“That may require a radical reassessment of workload expectations and, indeed, reopening the Jordanstown Agreement to ensure it remains fit for purpose and reflects the realities of modern education.
“Teachers cannot continue to absorb every new responsibility without something giving way. The current model is unsustainable. No one wants to see industrial action, least of all teachers themselves, and so I implore the Education Minister to commit to tackling teacher workload as a matter of urgency.”
Sinn Féin South Down MLA Cathy Mason said that the Education Minister must engage with teachers over workload.
Cathy Mason has called on the Education Minister to engage with teachers over workload to avoid strike action.
The South Down MLA said: “It has been well over a year since a workload review was commissioned and 9 months since recommendations were produced.
“The plan brought forward by the Minister at the time diluted many of those recommendations and it clearly did not have the confidence of teachers or school leaders.
“Teachers across South Down regularly come to me with the same message that they are burnt out.
“We are so lucky to have so many teachers in South Down who go above and beyond for our children and young people.
“They need support, not more pressure. They need this Minister to start listening and engage meaningfully to avoid strike action.
“I will continue standing with teachers and school leaders until we see real action from the Minister on the issue of workload.”
