Hundreds of lecturers across three Norfolk colleges are striking. They are on a three-day strike to call attention to unfair pay and unsafe working conditions. The teaching public staff feel very angry right now. They contend that poor pay and heavy caseloads make it impossible for them to provide the best education possible. The participating institutions feature more than 500 educators. They serve approximately 6,200 students in the 16-18 age range, as well as 1,100 adult learners and 1,000 apprentices.
In many ways, this strike is one small part of the process of a larger transformation. That journey has already begun this year at City College Norwich and its partner institutions. Prioritising expanding this process helps variable workloads to be manageable, staff wellbeing being protected, and the high sickness rates help prevent being prevented. A spokesperson for City College Norwich stated, “We have placed creating manageable workloads, supporting staff wellbeing and reducing sickness at the heart of our transformation process.”
One of the biggest motivators behind the strike is the disparity between FE teachers’ pay and their secondary school counterparts. This inequity leads to outrage and surely fuels educators’ desire to act. The government can fix this because it sets pay for secondary school teachers. Further education lecturers are up against the hurdle of 14 years of flatlining pay. David Hunter, an inclusive learning lecturer at City College, expressed concern over the recruitment and retention of teachers: “We cannot keep teachers and we cannot recruit teachers when they would all get paid better elsewhere.”
For English and maths teachers this is a steep hill to climb. The promise of greater earning potential in secondary education siphons away gifted minds from our institutions of higher learning. The colleges have committed to look again at their pay stance in April, when further student funding is likely to be announced.
In a statement, City College Norwich’s spokesperson recognized the serious concerns raised by staff around the increased workloads. They emphasized their commitment to addressing these challenges while maintaining educational standards: “We share the union’s desire to see the pay gap closed between further education teachers and their counterparts in schools.” The college wants to “work smarter, not harder.” They are both pioneers in putting emerging technologies to use within their classrooms.
With no deadline for resolution in sight, both the colleges and striking faculty remain hopeful. They’re fighting for a deal that addresses the root causes of their low pay and poor working conditions.
