Commonwealth Teachers Group (CTG) First Edition, March 2025
Renewed commitment and collaboration across the Commonwealth is required
That’s why the NEU and its counterparts in the Commonwealth Teachers Group (CTG), which represents the Commonwealth teachers’ and education unions that are affiliated to Education International, are calling for Commonwealth member states to recommit to the Protocol with a focus on promoting equity and inclusion, supporting mutuality and reciprocity, and ensuring that teachers’ rights are defended and monitored. The aggressive recruitment of teachers from Commonwealth countries is having a devastating impact on their ability to deliver good quality education. This is a moral question that the Commonwealth can no longer ignore. A child in Lagos has the same right to access a qualified teacher as a child in Liverpool, and Commonwealth members states, like Australia and the UK, must accept their share of responsibility for the global teacher shortage. In addition to addressing the causes of the teachers recruitment and retention crisis, development cooperation has a key role to play. Building on the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, the NEU’s report Prioritise Teachers to Transform Education sets out a roadmap for how donor governments can support the recruitment, retention and training of qualified teachers in the Global South. There is also an opportunity for Commonwealth countries to learn from successful strategies for addressing teacher shortages – for example, from Singapore where primary teachers earn at least 50 per cent more than similarly qualified professionals, and teachers are provided with a wide range of opportunity to earn seniority and higher pay, including promotion along teaching, leadership and senior specialist paths. With just five years to until the SDG 4 deadline, the shortage of qualified teachers represents one of the greatest barriers to universal primary and secondary education. Education ministers in the Commonwealth must put the teacher shortage crisis at the top of their agenda when they convene later this year – beginning by committing to the Protocol for the Recruitment of Commonwealth Teachers.
*Analysis by the NEU of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) awards made to teachers who applied for QTS between 1 February 2023 and 31 March 2024. Source: Teaching Regulation Agency: Annual Report and Accounts - For the year ended 31 March 2024
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