Over 200 schools across Merseyside and the surrounding areas are going to be removed from local authority control in a major academisation drive by the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
The Archdiocese comprises almost 230 primary and secondary schools as well as several colleges across the region, with plans to transfer 217 schools into three distinct multi-academy trusts (MATs). Schools in Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens, Widnes, Warrington and parts of Lancashire and Wigan will be impacted in the next few years as waves of academisation roll out.
These plans will spark deep concerns amongst school staff and families in Merseyside.
Data from the NEU highlights that one in five teachers leave their jobs and more than one in nine leave the profession entirely if they work in large MATs. Comparatively, in local-authority maintained schools, one in seven leave their jobs and one in eleven leave the profession altogether. For large MATs, the contrast is stark.
Why is this the case?
Academisation places impossible workloads on teachers, putting massive pressure on their work-life balance. Many struggle to make ends meet while academy CEOs enjoy inflated pay, stoking anger across the sector.
Unlike local-authority maintained schools, academies are not accountable, allowing CEO remuneration packages to soar whilst teachers’ pay falls in real terms.
Academy trusts do not raise standards in schools, nor do they outperform local authority schools. Instead, they turn education into a market with children’s education and teachers’ profession suffering as a result.
The solution is properly funded schools, manageable workloads and fair pay for teachers. Genuine local oversight must be developed.
For the people of Merseyside, this is about the future of their children and the teachers who are a lifeline to our communities. Now is the time for Merseyside to campaign against academisation and fight for an education system that puts pupils and staff before profits.
Georgina Andrews, is YCL General Secretary and a member of Merseyside YCL
