A government review on the implications of teachers working until their late 60s wants to gather more evidence – despite being published a year late.
The Department for Education finally released the interim report from its Teachers Working Longer review last Friday.
The review was set up in October 2014 to make sure pension age changes did not detrimentally impact the workforce.
An interim report was due to be published in February last year. Board minutes show the initial report was finalised the following month, but it has waited almost a year for ministerial sign-off.
Despite the delay, the report produced just three “overarching” conclusions: experienced teachers are a valuable part of the workforce; everyone in education has a part to play in maintaining teacher health; there is a “strong case” to continue the review past its original two-year time frame.
The government now plans to commission more research, including “in-depth qualitative research with a small number of schools” and possibly “larger-scaled surveys of teachers and school leaders” looking into the issues of teachers remaining in the classroom until they are at least 68 if born after 1979.
The report was issued alongside the government’s Teacher Workload Survey. It is unclear when the final report – originally due to be published in autumn last year – will now be published.
Life expectancy if a teacher retires after 65 is measured in months in actuary tables. It’s a nice cheap way to save money. Work them until they cannot work any more and then le them die.