National Education Union Cymru welcomes a pay increase for teachers. At first glance, the award this year might seem like a positive picture compared to England, there is no ask for schools in Wales to find 1%. The reality is this announcement falls way short of the mark.
For the second year running, the Welsh Government has chosen to ignore the recommendation of the Independent Pay Review Body with the announcement of an award that is below the 4.25% in their report.
We expected the Plaid Cymru Government to use its devolved powers and announce a fully funded pay award. Partial funding and no ring-fencing of those funds simply means that some schools will struggle to balance the books.
We have warned the Welsh Government consistently for several years that unless significantly increased and sustained funding is allocated to schools, many would reach a crisis point.
We wanted to welcome this award for teachers but sadly we know that this pay rise will come at the expense of other jobs and much-needed resources in schools.
At a time when our members are struggling with unsustainable levels of workload in an attempt to support a rise in the complex needs of learners they teach, we back calls for an increase in the allocated funds for ALN and will continue to stand with other education trade unions to fight to achieve this.