The big society agenda must not be used as a cover to replace qualified school support staff and teachers with volunteers, the deputy general secretary of NASUWT has warned.
Patrick Roach told a Conservative Party Conference fringe event that the overuse of volunteers in schools would lead to a lowering of standards in education.
"In education, volunteers, often mums, sometimes dads, contribute to a whole range of activities in school life," he explained. "Hearing children read, fundraising, lending an extra pair of hands on a school trip or serving on school governing bodies. But we need to recognise the limitations of volunteering."
He warned that school budgets are under such pressure that teachers are being forced take on a wider range of administrative and support staff work than ever before, diverting them from time spent actually teaching children.
"Support staff jobs in schools are being lost in the wake of budget cuts and we’re also seeing the loss of services such as behaviour support, special educational needs support and family support," he said.
"This is putting teachers under greater pressure to fill the gap. This is unsustainable and will lead to poorer quality education. But these services simply cannot be run on goodwill alone. Volunteers can help but they are not, and they can not, be a substitute for dedicated professionals."
Julian Stanley, chief executive of the Teacher Support Network, argued that volunteers should not be carrying out work that would have previously been carried out by paid professionals.
He added that many teachers who contact his charity are unable to find work and are being forced to apply for higher learning teaching assistant posts, despite having qualified teacher status.
"Clearly volunteering and having communities involved is centrally important to the school environment," he said. "But what we’re finding now is that many qualified teachers actually can’t get jobs. We’ve got to remember that there is a fine line between making sure that volunteers are supported but that they’re not replacing the teacher or the role of the teacher."
Justin Davies Smith, chief executive of Volunteering England, admitted that volunteers could not replace qualified professionals in schools.
But he claimed that volunteers can help strengthen the role of schools in local communities, adding that schools don’t always recognise the potential of volunteers.
"How about establishing as part of the teacher training process a module on volunteering to open up this debate about just what it is that volunteering can contribute to education," he said.
"In education, volunteers, often mums, sometimes dads, contribute to a whole range of activities in school life," he explained. "Hearing children read, fundraising, lending an extra pair of hands on a school trip or serving on school governing bodies. But we need to recognise the limitations of volunteering."
He warned that school budgets are under such pressure that teachers are being forced take on a wider range of administrative and support staff work than ever before, diverting them from time spent actually teaching children.
"Support staff jobs in schools are being lost in the wake of budget cuts and we’re also seeing the loss of services such as behaviour support, special educational needs support and family support," he said.
"This is putting teachers under greater pressure to fill the gap. This is unsustainable and will lead to poorer quality education. But these services simply cannot be run on goodwill alone. Volunteers can help but they are not, and they can not, be a substitute for dedicated professionals."
Julian Stanley, chief executive of the Teacher Support Network, argued that volunteers should not be carrying out work that would have previously been carried out by paid professionals.
He added that many teachers who contact his charity are unable to find work and are being forced to apply for higher learning teaching assistant posts, despite having qualified teacher status.
"Clearly volunteering and having communities involved is centrally important to the school environment," he said. "But what we’re finding now is that many qualified teachers actually can’t get jobs. We’ve got to remember that there is a fine line between making sure that volunteers are supported but that they’re not replacing the teacher or the role of the teacher."
Justin Davies Smith, chief executive of Volunteering England, admitted that volunteers could not replace qualified professionals in schools.
But he claimed that volunteers can help strengthen the role of schools in local communities, adding that schools don’t always recognise the potential of volunteers.
"How about establishing as part of the teacher training process a module on volunteering to open up this debate about just what it is that volunteering can contribute to education," he said.
