Union boss on school picket line over use of ‘virtual maths teacher’

The boss of a teaching union has told staff striking at a school in Rossendale over the use of a maths teacher based 300 miles away in Devon that they are defending one of the core principles of the profession – the relationship between teacher and pupil.

National Education Union (NEU) general secretary Daniel Kebede was on the picket line at The Valley Leadership Academy in Bacup on Wednesday morning for the second of five days of planned action over the next month.

Members have walked out over the introduction in September of a so-called “virtual teacher” who is leading maths lessons for top-set pupils in years 9-11.

A qualified teacher is also physically present in the classroom at the Fearns Moss school as part of the arrangement, which the Star Academies trust that runs the school says was adopted as a result of difficulty recruiting teachers locally.

However, Daniel Kebede said that what he described as “online, virtual learning” is “sub-standard compared to an experienced teacher in the classroom”.

“Our members here want the best for their children – the children of this community…deserve the best.

“This is thin-end-of-the-wedge stuff.  If we allow this stuff to slide here, this will happen across schools around the country. We‘ll see the rollout of virtual teachers… that completely undermine the learning children expect and deserve.

“Teaching is a relational experience – it’s built on [the] relationship between teacher and student – and that just quite simply cannot happen through a screen,” Mr. Kebede said.

Blackburn-based Star Academies, which has schools across Lancashire, said its priority was “always to make sure pupils receive the best possible teaching”.

It added that the virtual teacher at The Valley was a short-term measure and was not about cost-cutting – because it actually cost more to operate than a traditional face-to-face arrangement.

“By using a virtual teacher, we are able to ensure our pupils’ learning is uninterrupted and they continue to receive consistently high-quality teaching from an experienced, subject-specialist teacher whilst the school fills a vacancy for a maths teacher.

“It is not about replacing teachers or reducing standards, but about ensuring that, even when we cannot fill a vacancy, our pupils do not miss out on the high-quality teaching they deserve. It is a short-term solution to ensure continuity until we recruit a permanent maths teacher to fill the vacancy.”

The trust added that it was “extremely disappointed” the NEU had taken strike action when Star had ‘’worked closely with all our trade unions on this issue, listening to concerns and giving reassurance”.

It said that The Valley had remained open during the walkout.