We need a recruitment and retention strategy for the whole workforce

The tradition at the beginning of a new year is to make resolutions, so the temptation to suggest education resolutions for government is appealing. Resolutions, however, are often quickly forgotten and don’t achieve the maker’s aspiration, even without political curveballs to contend with.

But there is no denying that, despite the initiatives announced last year, recruitment and retention of teachers remains in crisis and is exacerbated by the continuing reduction of support staff numbers through “efficiency savings”.

Incentivising recruitment into teaching through loan reimbursement, scholarships and bursaries is welcome – and may go some way to reverse the initial teacher training trend of recent years – but there is still some distance to travel to reverse the trend and stem the flow of departures from the profession within the first five years after qualifying.