TiES Company News - TiES Company News
Wednesday, 28 January 2009 16:25 Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 January 2009 17:41
Teachers leave the UK to find rich life abroad
According to a recent report by ISC Research there are record numbers of teachers leaving the UK to work in international schools, raising fears of an exodus that will leave UK schools understaffed.
It is estimated that there are some 74,264 teachers from the UK teaching in international schools worldwide. This is equal to almost 14% of teachers in UK state schools.
ISC Research, which analyses the international schools market and collected the figures, predicts that by 2013 the number will have risen by a further 54% to nearly 115,000.
The alarming figures state that qualified teachers moving overseas has risen by 26% in the last three years.
Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers in the UK, argued that schools in the UK could struggle to fill vacancies because the new points-based immigration system meant there were "major constraints" on schools recruiting teachers from overseas.
"The exodus of a large number of UK teachers could at some point lead to teacher vacancies," she said. "The government needs to address this potential major imbalance."
John Dunford, who is the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (UK), warned that increasing numbers of teachers moving from the UK could worsen a shortage of maths and science teachers across the country.
In the last three years the number of British International schools has increased from 1,282 to 2,129, according to ISC.
Nicholas Brummitt , ISC's managing director, said Qatar, Hong Kong, Dubai and Switzerland still have "nothing like enough places to satisfy demand". He added: "British education still has considerable cachet overseas.
"Many parents strongly believe that they are securing their children's future by sending them to a school that teaches in English."
Brummitt predicts that by 2013 Asia will have more than 1,600 British international schools.
Teachers at the schools are seldom paid as much as they would be in the UK, but salaries are often tax-free, with free rent, flights home and medical insurance added.
Thousands more teachers are thought to have quit the UK for schools that do not follow the English national curriculum, but do teach in English.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said its "workforce modelling" took account of teachers travelling abroad to work. She said: "Teacher vacancies remain low and stable. Teaching is one of the most popular career destinations for final-year university students."
She said the government recruited around 38,000 new teachers each year, and the latest figures showed it was 4% above its target for this year. "The number of people inquiring about becoming a teacher has risen by 34% since the start of the credit crunch," she said.
Teaching deals don't get better than this
Anna Coquelin, 29, left Craigroyston Community High School in Edinburgh for a job at the British International School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in August. "I'm really loving it here. I'm as happy as I have ever been," said the French and Spanish teacher, who has no plans for the time being to return to the UK to teach.
"I left because I needed to get out of Edinburgh. I felt I had exhausted the city and wanted to try something new.
"There's also a lot of doom and gloom in the UK right now, with the high cost of fuel and food. There have been huge cuts in education budgets in Edinburgh and a lot of people are chasing few jobs."
Coquelin's new school only pays her slightly more than the £24,000 salary she received in Edinburgh, but it pays her rent, household bills, gym membership and her travel expenses as well. "Teaching deals don't get much better than this," she said.
| Next > |
|---|