VIEWS & OPINION How can UK schools and early-years education
combat the skills shortage? Comment by DALIAH SKLAR, CEO & UK immigration solicitor, Borderless Jobs Ltd
advanced manufacturing and creative industries as key growth sectors vital for the future of the UK economy. However, if teachers cannot be found to teach these subjects, then the chancellor’s plan could fall flat.
So why are UK schools struggling to find the teachers they need? Unlike many professions, teachers need specific training and qualifications, which means it takes far longer for a new teacher to be ‘born’. This also means that teachers often have high levels of education, which does, unfortunately, mean the candidates to become teachers could also find better paid work elsewhere in the private sector, especially in the key growth sectors listed by the UK government.
So what can schools and nurseries do to combat the skills shortage? It could be time for headteachers and others recruiting in the education sector to start looking abroad more to find the qualified teachers they need.
Fortunately, teachers who trained in other countries do not need to retrain to work in UK schools, they just need to obtain a working visa and apply for “Qualified Teacher Status” in order to be eligible to work. In fact, the Government has even started a program called “The international relocation payment” (IRP) to attract teachers from abroad who want to teach physics or languages in the UK, and starting September 2023, a foreign teacher may be eligible to receive £10,000 to help with moving costs as incentive for these skilled teachers to come to work in the UK. Furthermore, with a simplified process, a new overseas worker can be approved a visa within a matter of weeks after the Home office verify their job offer and biometrics.
Sectors across the UK are struggling with the skills shortage as businesses of all stripes fail to fill vacancies. Unfortunately, it’s not just private companies who can’t find the right staff, but also schools and nurseries. With education being of such vital import to the country, it’s imperative that a solution is found quickly. Recorded statistics shown by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) demonstrate that there are almost 40,000 job vacancies in nursery, primary and secondary schools showing a continuous rise, with an increase over 1.4 million job adverts from 205,000 earlier this month, reported by the REC.
Back in March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced a £4bn expansion of free pre-school education in order to ease the burden on working parents, encouraging them back into work in turn. While this ambitious scheme would certainly provide a boost, it could soon be met with the harsh reality that there is simply not enough staff to make it happen in addition to the fact that this does not extinguish the current problem, and a solution needs to be implemented today. What is a school without teachers? Just last year, the National Day Nurseries Association warned of early-year education centres going out of business at an alarming rate due to the severity of the skills shortage. If UK nurseries are now expected to handle a steep increase in children thanks to the government’s expansion of free pre-school education, it’s unlikely they’ll have the infrastructure to handle it.
And what of schools for older children? The Association of Colleges reported that around 75% of colleges in the UK cannot find the staff to teach technical and digital subjects. The chancellor has highlighted digital technology, green industries, life sciences,
May 2023
The UK’s immigration infrastructure is somewhat in a stage of flux at the moment, as the country adjusts to the new points-based immigration system and the end of freedom of movement with the EU. However, this does not mean that immigration’s bureaucratic hurdles are impossible to navigate, and those that do, could be well rewarded with the staff they need. There are even web platforms that can help schools simply and compliantly navigate these waters. The only issue is that for those unfamiliar with the visa process, obtaining the necessary licences, certificates and visas is time- consuming, confusing and expensive, with cash-strapped public sector schools having to pay recruitment agencies, overseas immigration consultants and visa experts to verify the legitimacy of the foreign teacher and their skill set. A lot of schools won’t enter into these hindrances, leaving them without vitally needed staff and overworked existing teachers.
If the UK government is serious about tackling the education skills shortage, and in turn helping their free nursery and key growth sector plans, as well as growing their diversity staff and encouraging cultural exposure to qualified staff from abroad, then they should look to simplify the process of obtaining a visa for prospective foreign teachers in order to give schools a helping hand. Once taught how to navigate these procedures, we believe that quality non-UK teachers will help boost the education sector, allowing the government to succeed with its ambitious plans for the future. It is time to start connecting potential qualified teachers from across the globe, with unfilled positions in the UK in a process that is fair and balanced, and that promotes diversity and skills wherever possible. The issue here is not immigration but integration, which is currently hampered only by the bureaucracy of our borders.
www.education-today.co.uk 23
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