Martin Reed, President of the National Union of
Teachers (NUT), addressed the Annual General Meeting of the Bournemouth
& Poole NUT associations with a powerful call for the right of all
children to receive a good, free education.
Martin, also non-executive director of
Wimborne-based Teachers Building Society, highlighted the need to invest
in education even during tough economic times.
“The recession has been deep but I urge people
involved in education and in the wider community to continue to support
investment in schools and teaching in order to ensure a long-term
recovery,” Martin says. “Education is an important force of social
change and we all have a responsibility to provide young people with
free and properly resourced schooling.”
Martin also commented
on the concern of Local Education Authority schools moving either
through Trusts or Academies to private enterprise and the consequent
threat to teachers’ pay, conditions and pensions.
Organised by David Morgan
and Paul Miles of the Bournemouth NUT Division, the meeting, which was
held at the Wessex Hotel on Wednesday 3rd March, was attended by 40
local teachers.
Paul also considers the threat posed by Academies
and Trust schools to our locally accountable free education service to
be very worrying. “Whereas for many generations schools and teachers
have placed their children’s education as of paramount importance, these
new models of educational management place financial profit above the
needs of learners. In the long term this may well lead to reduced choice
for parents and situations in which there is reduced provision for
those pupils who are disadvantaged in any way.”
David says, “We were delighted that Martin Reed was
able to attend our AGM and he gave an inspirational speech. Teachers
are under a great deal of pressure with SATs tests and an increasing
amount of administration, and it’s good to be reminded why we do what we
do and that we play a key role in shaping future society.”
Teachers can contact their local NUT division via the union’s website at www.nut.org.uk. For more information about Teachers Building Society, call 0800 378 669 or go to www.teachersbs.co.uk.