Context
The question follows a speech Caroline Voaden made on Instagram, which was seen by over 135,000 people. The speech highlighted concerns from teachers about pay not rewarding experience and excessive time spent on administration and tests.
Question
A speech about teacher retention that I made in Westminster Hall recently has been seen by more than 135,000 people on Instagram, and there have been hundreds of comments from teachers. They speak of pay not rewarding experience and far too much time being spent on administration and tests, but it is also clear that safeguarding incidents and poor pupil behaviour are driving teachers out of the profession. We know that both those improve radically when pupils spend less time on social media, so will the Secretary of State commit herself to looking carefully at the Liberal Democrat proposal to introduce film-style age ratings for all social media platforms, not just to help our teachers but to protect our children?
Answer from The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
We will look carefully at any sensible proposals to ensure that we can keep our children safe online. I recognise the broader issues that the hon. Lady has raised, about behaviour being a factor that affects teachers’ experiences and about some of the wider pressures including those relating to safeguarding. I am proud of the fact that we are expanding free school meal provision and ending the two-child limit, lifting more than half a million children out of poverty, because we know that poverty is a big driver of many of the challenges faced by our brilliant teachers and school staff.
Not addressed: The Secretary did not commit to reviewing the Liberal Democrat proposal specifically.
How: We Will Look Carefully At Any Sensible Proposals
Was this summary accurate? Tell us
How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)