Schools facing shortage of drama teachers, Labour claims

Schools are facing shortages of specialist teachers in key areas including drama, posing a threat to children’s education, Labour has warned.

Analysis found that more than one in five drama lessons were taught by a non-expert teacher last year, The Mirror reported. 

The teaching analysis follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he plans to get all children to study maths until the age of 18, despite a shortage of specialist teachers. He has so far failed to set out how he plans to resolve the shortage. 

In a speech to the NAHT union’s annual conference on Saturday, Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson vowed to hire more teachers using money raised by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Labour wants to axe these schools’ charitable status, which exempts them from charging VAT on fees. The party estimates that the change would raise £1.7bn per year for the state education system.

“Labour will recruit thousands more teachers to ensure pupils are taught by specialist teachers in each subject, and drive higher standards in schools. We will pay for this by ending tax breaks for private schools,” the party tweeted last week.

“Staff shortages are a growing problem, extend widely across many different subject areas and are impacting education on a daily basis,” said Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.

“The expectation to have a specialist teacher at the front of every classroom is not an unreasonable one, but is not the reality for many pupils. Schools are increasingly being forced to turn to supply staff to cover for vacancies.”

This can be disruptive for students and also raises costs for schools, he added.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said there are 24,000 more teachers working in classrooms in England than in 2010.

“Conservatives are delivering higher standards for children by recruiting and training excellent teachers, helping them to fulfil their potential and grow the economy,” he said.

But the analysis showed that ongoing shortages of specialist teachers is also affecting other subjects, including physics, French, German and maths.