The Perfect Storm
Having worked in the UK, Middle East, Central Asia and the Far East as a Head, Governor and consultant to investors and schools, I have often heard that the three most important aspects of a successful school are People, Place, and Programme. What is universally agreed is that People are by far the most important of the three (although they are all inextricably intertwined).
Add this to the reality that between 55% and 75% of your school expenditure goes on staffing then it is not difficult to understand why the best schools prioritise staff recruitment when looking at their strategic development plans. Unfortunately, it is not quite as simple as putting an advertisement in the TES anymore. There is a significant teacher shortage – worldwide, and it’s not getting better any time soon.
By the end of the 2021/22 academic year, the number of English medium international schools stood at 13,180 and growing. Importantly, they employed 571,000 teaching staff, which is a 60% increase over the previous 10 years. Clearly not all staff come from the UK, but within this group, the premium schools rely heavily on UK trained expat teachers. The growth in the number of schools in this sector shows no sign of reducing any time soon but will there be the requisite number of teachers available to meet the demand? This is very unlikely. The reality is that more teachers are leaving the profession than joining it, and (thankfully for us), many are opting for an international experience. However, nowhere near enough. And it is not just in the international sector where recruitment is tough – speaking recently with a Head of an OFSTED outstanding maintained Primary in Southwest London, it was hugely concerning to hear that they are reliant on agency staff just to maintain their classroom teacher numbers.
It is clear therefore, that as educators and teacher recruiters, we are facing the perfect storm – dropping numbers of teachers entering the profession, record numbers exiting it, and a wealth of new international schools opening in need of new recruits! And given the universal agreement that people are the most important ingredient in any successful school, we need to find ways to ensure that the best staff who are in the market actually consider our schools first and foremost as their next career move.
So how do we do that? In Central Asia, we have two schools in Kazakhstan. It is not lost on us that for most prospective teachers, their only understanding of the country is Borat in a Mankini! That means we have a huge challenge in not only promoting the schools as centres of excellence, but also the region, which is both beautiful and charming.
To attract the best staff in a shrinking market, an ad in the TES or any other recruitment platform just does not cut it in this hugely competitive market, and so the combination of our HR, marketing and Senior Leadership teams put their heads together, liaised closely with a developer and produced an innovative multi-media product tailored to each individual job. It operates smoothly with every recruitment platform and allows each school to showcase themselves in a three dimensional and innovative way. At the London IPSEF conference on June 28th, I will share the recruitment platform and highlight the key aspects that we believe truly makes it both unique and powerful – and goes a significant way to helping us navigate that perfect storm.
Article written by Ian Hunt, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Haileybury Kazakhstan
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