Schools and colleges join forces to take on pension cuts
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Pension cuts are a threat to education reforms, according to two of the leading school and college association in the UK – the ASCL and the NAHT. The two organisations have written to both the chancellor and the prime minister to make their concerns heard regarding the impact of proposed pension cuts on their efforts to improve the education system.
The main bone of contention is their feeling of becoming undermined and having their positions threatened, due to their pensions schemes demanding more money and a longer working life. Those in opposition also make the point that the reforms are dependent upon the involvement of school and college leaders, in particular, the flagship academies programme, but this could be a problem if staff have significantly low moral due to the changes in their pension security.
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The education sector has hit more than its fair share of problems recently, citing increased difficulties with recruitment in more challenging areas and vulnerable roles within the system. School and college leadership positions have dropped, and schools which teach children with special needs have said over half of all head teacher vacancies are left unoccupied after first being advertised. Damage to the appeal of a job in education is not likely to improve the situation, cutting pensions is not going to help with recruitment.
General Secretary for the NAHT, Russell Hobby, said that those in the public sector are attempting to solve the problems of the nation’s expenses and teachers have accepted a freeze on their pay for two years, along with major budget restrictions. He goes on to say; ‘We already make significant contributions to our pension scheme and have agreed to bear the risk if it is unaffordable – but there is no evidence that it is unaffordable. Both the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee say the current scheme is working.’ Mr Hobby also mentioned that he had worries about falling recruitment, pointing out that it was not an easy job; ‘The pension cuts could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. There are many ways to respond to a recruitment crisis – a pay cut is not usually one of them.’
Finally, he added; ‘We know that good teachers, support staff and leaders will leave their profession early if their pension benefits are cut, and it will become more difficult to recruit high quality people. The bottom line is that the standard of education will suffer because of the damage to public sector pensions.’
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