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Politicians this morning responded with shock as an Assistant Education Minister denied there was a "crisis" in education recruitment and retention ahead of tomorrow's teacher strikes over pay and conditions.
Up to 400 members of the NEU are due to walk out on Wednesday, while members of the NASUWT and NAHT headteachers’ union are refusing to take on any additional duties after all three unions rejected a 7.9% pay increase.
While members of all three unions have cited challenges in recruiting as a key pressure on their sector – Constable Richard Vibert shared a different perspective as he was questioned in the States Assembly this morning.
Stating that teachers were being "successfully recruited and retained" in the island, the Assistant Education Minister went on to cite the "attrition rate" for Jersey teachers as 3.6% in the last year compared to the UK's attrition rate of 9.4%.
An attrition rate measures how many people leave an organisation. It calculates the number of employee departures divided by the number of employees and is normally expressed as a percentage.
Mr Vibert added that "most businesses would be proud" of having an attrition rate of 3.6%.
Pictured: Constable Richard Vibert, Assistant Education Minister.
But Constable Simon Crowcroft said: "It's astonishing to hear the Minister speak of pride and success when teachers are about to strike in the Royal Square."
The St. Helier Constable and former teacher added: "There is a mismatch between what's going on in Government and what's going on in the classrooms."
At the States Assembly yesterday, Deputy Rob Ward read a quote from Carl Howarth, President of the Jersey branch of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), which stated that the island "is facing an unprecedented crisis in recruitment and retention within education".
Adrian Moss, the Joint District and Branch Secretary for the NEU, has also previously described the situation as a "crisis", telling Express that "good, experienced teachers [who] are leaving the profession and moving to other skilled roles with their post-graduate qualifications and high work ethic are not being suitably replaced" in Jersey schools.
However, Constable Vibert told the Assembly that the Education Department is not facing "an unprecedented crisis" in recruitment and retention.
Deputy Sam Mézec commented on the "complete differences" between the Minister and those in the teaching profession, questioning whether the Minister thought that teachers were "living in a fantasy land".
Mr Vibert told the Assembly that there are currently 18 teacher vacancies in Jersey, with seven roles being currently advertised.
He also informed Assembly members that the Island currently has 88 more teachers compared to 2019.
The Island also offers a teacher graduate scheme with 18 new trainees being recruited to teaching roles in the last year, according to Mr Vibert.
Deputy Geoff Southern questioned how many of the new trainees had been retained in their roles.
The Assistant Education Minister admitted that he didn't know exactly how many teachers had been retained from the scheme, despite adding that "the majority of teachers had been retained".
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