"The unions understand the frustrations of the workforce": Northern Ireland teachers' workload dominates 'challenging' conference
The Ulster Teachers’ Union has said what it describes as the ‘crisis in the workload of teachers’ was the main focus point at its annual conference held in Limavady on Friday.
It is the first UTU conference since the four main teaching unions in Northern Ireland resolved a long-running pay deal and secured a 5.5% salary increase.
However, despite relief at the pay dispute finally being put to bed, General Secretary Jacquie White outlined how the negotiations also "served to bring those workload issues to the surface".
She said: “We have been engaging with members. There’s been a lot of debate and we have reached a point where hopefully we are now moving into space where we can deliver.
“The unions understand the frustrations of the workforce. We’ve been working since 2020 to try to action some of these workload issues but unfortunately the effect of that has not yet been seen in classrooms.
“However, we now have a time fame around delivery and so we can hold the management side to account.
“We on the union side are prepared to put in the work so teachers can actually see a change in culture in their schools.”
After the pay deal was finalised, the Education Minister Paul Givan also agreed to hold an Independent Review into teacher workload.
Ms White hopes the findings from the review will “start a shift in how the profession is viewed”.
“The proposed Independent Review Panel is to include a union nominee and we hope the findings of the panel will be constructive for our education system and our profession,” she added.
“We hope too that during this review the management side will be amenable to what we have to say.
“Education here is in crisis due in no small part to a decade of under-funding which teachers have struggled to bridge by taking on ever-growing workloads in tandem with mounting bureaucracy and paperwork.
“This alongside the fact that the teaching profession’s pay scales had fallen so egregiously behind those of other professions meant the situation had become untenable as evidenced by the fact schools are increasingly unable to fill vacancies in even core subjects as graduates look elsewhere.
“We hope this will be the start of a shift in how our profession is viewed so teachers are indeed recognised for their commitment and hard work in nurturing and educating Northern Ireland’s next generation.”