NEU Annual Conference: Unity and Challenges Facing the UK Education Community

The annual conference of the National Education Union (NEU) of the UK recently concluded in Brighton. The event is traditionally held once a year and this year brought together up to 1,600 delegates, representatives of districts, sectors, and equality groups, as well as international guests.

Representatives of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine - Olha Chabaniuk, Vice President of the Trade Union, and Kateryna Maliuta-Osaurova, Head of the International Department - were invited to participate in the event.

In addition to plenary sessions and debates, this year’s conference program included thematic sessions, professional discussions, exhibitions, and continuing professional development events.

Key topics: funding, working conditions, and the future of education

This year’s conference focused on issues of education funding, the staffing crisis, teachers’ working conditions, and the quality of the educational process.

In opening the event, NEU President Ed Harlow highlighted systemic problems in the sector and called for real change. “No one goes into education for the money. But for too long, educators have been forced to survive and fill the gaps in a broken system… So our message to the government must be clear - fund our schools, invest in educators, invest in children, invest in communities,” he said.

Among the challenges highlighted were Europe’s largest class sizes, a shortage of teachers, insufficient funding, and a growing workload for teachers and support staff.

Throughout the conference, delegates reviewed and endorsed a number of important resolutions, including:

1. the need to establish a fair and fully funded national teacher pay system;
2. strengthening the protection of support staff, who are increasingly being asked to perform additional unpaid duties;
3. responding to cuts in education funding, which have reached approximately £1 billion in the last year alone.

Special attention was given to issues of educational quality, opposing privatization, and ensuring equal access to education.

Solidarity and International Support

The prestigious Steve Sinnott Award was presented at the annual conference. Mike Kearney was among the award winners, recognized for his significant contribution to the development of international solidarity and support for Ukrainian teachers and students.

The award was presented by NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede. The text on the award itself emphasizes the idea: “Education is the great liberator,” that education is the force that liberates. This moment became a symbol of recognition of the importance of international cooperation and the unity of the educational community in the fight for teachers’ rights and the development of education.

After the conference ended, Mike Kearney, along with educators who joined the campaign to support Ukraine, set off on a humanitarian mission to Ukraine. During the visit, the delegation met with Ukrainian teachers and activists from the education workers’ union in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The delegation also delivered humanitarian aid to one of the local schools that continues to operate amid the war.

Ukraine’s Voice at the Conference

The conference featured two separate sessions dedicated to issues of international solidarity, as well as a special session in support of Ukraine.

During this session, Union representatives Olha Chabaniuk and Kateryna Maliuta-Osaulova briefed international partners on the conditions under which Ukrainian teachers currently live and work, and in which children study. In particular, they discussed the daily challenges of the educational process: nighttime rocket and drone attacks, after which teachers return to work and students return to their studies first thing in the morning.

They also spoke about how the education system functioned during the difficult winter period, when, due to massive strikes on energy infrastructure, classes often took place without electricity or heat. Despite this, the educational process continued: classes were held in shelters, remotely, or using alternative energy sources.

Kateryna Maliuta-Osaulova also presented the activities of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine during the war and initiatives to support educators and students, specifically, the creation of safe educational spaces, equipping educational institutions with generators, providing psychological support, assisting internally displaced teachers and children, and fostering international cooperation.

Speaking to her colleagues from the NEU, the Vice President of the Union, Olha Chabaniuk, said: “Your help may vary in scale, but together it has a powerful effect, it supports people, helps keep institutions running, and strengthens our ability to continue working under extremely difficult conditions. We sincerely thank you for your solidarity and support for Ukraine.”

Final Highlights of the Conference

Concluding the conference, NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede emphasized the importance of unity within the trade union movement. “The true strength of a trade union lies in solidarity, in the willingness to support one another and act together,” he stressed.

He stressed the need to protect educators’ rights, ensure decent working conditions, and take an active stance in defending the sector’s interests.

The National Education Union of Great Britain conference once again underscored that the key to change in education lies in systemic solutions, adequate funding, and the unity of the education community in defending its rights. This event sent a powerful signal about the need to invest in education, teachers, and the educational component in communities. And most importantly, the conference confirmed that the strength of a union lies in the unity and solidarity of its members.