Opinion

Pension warning: Schools urged to step in

The body blow of a pay freeze during the pandemic now risks being compounded by teacher pension losses due to the lack of ‘indexation’ – but schools can act to prevent this. Helen Osgood explains


At the beginning of the pandemic, nobody would have predicted that teachers’ pay, along with that of much of the public sector, would be frozen – but it was and still is.

The “tremendous effort” of teachers, support staff and school leaders was noted by former secretary of state for education Gavin Williamson, who said in a letter to schools in September 2021: “I am truly grateful for all the outstanding work done … I thank you for your continued dedication to providing the best education for our country’s children and young people.”

However, despite those warm words, the pay freeze continued. As we have already said, this was a body blow for an already demoralised and exhausted profession crushed by the on-going weight of workload and the huge demands made of them, both at the height of the pandemic and to deliver education recovery.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting Headteacher Update and reading some of our content for professionals in primary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcasts

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here