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Labour has made tangible progress to fix the foundations of education through its Plan for Change - attendance is up, with over five million fewer days of absence this year compared to last, and teacher recruitment and retention is also up, with over 2,300 more teachers in secondary and special schools across England. In particular, the Labour government has seen an increase in those training in Physics and Computing up by 33 per cent and 42 per cent, alongside languages and maths up by around 15 per cent compared to last year. As part of the new package, bursaries for teacher trainees in further education will also be available, with £31,000 for those teaching in key shortage STEM subjects, £15,000 for SEND-specialist trainees and £10,000 for those training to teach English. This reflects the importance that Labour places on supporting colleges and other FE institutions to train and recruit high-quality teachers. The Labour government is also offering schools up to £29,000 to cover the cost of training apprentices in mathematics, chemistry, physics, computing, and modern foreign languages, meaning apprentices pay nothing for their training and will earn a salary while they are training before moving on to a qualified teacher salary. The Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship, another popular route into teaching, has also seen a 58 per cent growth over the past few years, offering a brilliant way for people to gain the hands-on skills and experience they need in the classroom from day one to become expert teachers and build a successful career in teaching. Alex Ballinger, MP for Halesowen, said: “In our first year in government, Labour has worked to fix the foundations of our education system by getting more children back into our classrooms and more expert teachers at the front of them. “While the Tories and Reform have one education policy – cutting state school budgets to restore private schools’ tax breaks – Labour is focused on supporting every child in Halesowen to achieve and thrive. Action is already being taken to tackle the systemic challenges that the sector faces which drive high workload and poor wellbeing, with Labour announcing pay awards of almost 10% over two years and working with schools and colleges to implement an Education Staff Wellbeing Charter setting out commitments from government, schools, and colleges to improve staff wellbeing and workload. Plans to make sure every young person, wherever they grow up, can succeed will be set out in the Schools White Paper later this autumn to drive a once in a generation reset in the contract between those left behind pupils and schools, and give every child the opportunities they deserve in life.
