I WANT to begin my second address as general secretary of the National Education Union by saying how proud I am to lead the largest education union in Europe and the third-largest union in the TUC.
 
In my speech to you last year, I said that our union would light fires of resistance in schools and colleges to right the wrongs our members too often face.
 
In the past year, we have witnessed the undeniable power of local industrial action. We have ramped up our workplace organising and have supported even more school groups to take action on a range of issues where negotiations have failed. In 2024, 219 formal ballots were approved by the action committee, and 593 days of action were taken by members — more than double the previous year.
 
Across the country, in primary schools and secondary schools, in cities, towns and rural areas, our members have taken a stand — demanding better pay, manageable workloads, and improved conditions for teachers and support staff alike. We want to see more of this. Organising in workplaces, developing reps and supporting branch officers to build links between workplaces to spread success.
 
Through all your steadfast action, you have proved what we already know: that when we fight, we win.
 
Our task in the coming year is to grow all sections of the NEU, to ensure every workplace is organised, and to empower every teacher and support staff member to stand up and be counted. The vision I have for this union is a union of a million members. If you are in the school and not in a union, you should be in the NEU. Now, I said last year, and recommit today, to my belief that there should be one education union for all education workers. The case for professional unity is clear.
 
The Harris multi-academy trust is emblematic of so many things wrong with national education policy. Our members in Harris schools tell us about high rates of staff turnover, off-rolling, poor management practices and bullying tactics.
 
Members also highlighted to us the fact that overseas trained teachers, being recruited often from the Caribbean, with the promise of qualified teacher status, would find themselves not only denied a pathway by the employer, but also being paid less than their colleagues. We will not tolerate this practice in any Trust around the country. It’s exploitation, pure and simple.
 
Now, you will see behind me a picture of Sir Dan Moynihan, CEO of Harris. You will also see his salary for 2023-24. Half a million pounds. In what world can this ever be justified?
 
This is public money being funnelled into the pockets of a handful of education profiteers. It is the marketisation of education in its most grotesque form.
 
We demand an end to this greed. We demand salary caps on Trust CEOs. We demand full financial transparency from every academy trust. We demand a return to a system of education that is run for the benefit of children and communities, not for the personal enrichment of a privileged few.
 
This year, we’ve seen the launch of our Arts and Minds campaign. The Curriculum and Assessment Review, led by Professor Becky Francis, showed us that 58 per cent of primary school teaching is given over to English and maths.
 
Art, science, history, music, the subjects that make the school day enjoyable, all squeezed out of timetables.
 
I welcome the call for more creativity in the curriculum, but unless you loosen the stranglehold of SATs over the primary curriculum, the creativity we want to see in our classrooms will never be achieved.
 
During this year, we have worked with allies to lead the charge for Ofsted to be abolished. Another policy which is damaging education and demotivating students is high-stakes testing. It narrows the curriculum, stifles creativity, and fuels teaching to the test.
 
Unless Labour comes up with an inspection model that is not high stakes and punitive in intent, they will not fix the recruitment and retention crisis. The excessive workload, data collection and work intensity driven by Ofsted, and the fear of Ofsted, is unsustainable.
 
Everyone wants high standards in schools — NEU members are the first — but pigs don’t get fatter the more you weigh them. It’s not inspection that improves school standards — it is investment.
 
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves may say austerity is over, but in this union, we say austerity will only be ended by deeds, not words.
 
After 14 years of Conservative austerity, we expect better from a Labour government. We will make Labour MPs pay a high political price through our campaigning in their constituencies. No teacher wants to strike. But we stand ready.
 
If there is money for bombs, for bullets, for hypersonic missiles, then there should be money for carers, for those unable to work and for free school meals. There should be money for mental health support. For Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. For a pay rise that stops dedicated professionals from leaving education altogether.
 
Our economic system is broken. It simply does not work for so many people. It is time for taxes on wealth — a 2 per cent wealth tax on those with assets over £5 million — instead of short-changing education, instead of picking the pockets of our pupils, it’s time to tax profits. It is time to prioritise our children and our communities over corporate greed.
 
It’s undoubtedly the case that the election of Donald Trump to the White House has added to the sense of global insecurity. It’s not just on international issues where Trump is such a threat. Trump and his allies seek to dismantle public education, censor what teachers can say, and roll back the progress on inclusion and equality in the classroom. Their attacks on educators are not just a US problem — they are part of a global assault on education and democracy itself.
 
But as you know, we have our own little pound-shop Trump here in Britain. Nigel Farage and Reform UK are part of a global movement of populist right organisations. They push a divisive agenda, they stoke up fear that undermines equality, and wage a so-called “culture war” against progressive ideas and education.
 
You may have noticed that we appear to be living rent-free in Farage’s head. He believes we are indoctrinating children with “woke ideas.” How dare he? That man knows nothing about education.
 
We will not allow the populist or hard-right to dictate what we teach, how we teach, or who gets access to a quality education. But when Reform is polling 25 per cent of the vote, we know we have to take these issues seriously. And while this government might be rolling out the red carpet for Farage to walk into Number 10, through their austerity agenda, we won’t stand for it.
 
Farage wants war, that’s fine — but I want our union to continue to live rent-free in his head as we organise for an education system and society where any child, regardless of background, colour, or religion, feels safe, happy and can flourish.
 
Conference, I have a beautiful six-year-old son. He likes all the things a typical six-year-old likes  — football, Nerf guns. Yet I feel fearful for my son and his friends, both boys and girls. Across our schools, we are witnessing a disturbing rise in misogyny that is infecting classrooms, playgrounds, and online spaces.
 
Teachers and support staff are reporting a problematic trend where sexist, degrading, and violent attitudes towards women and girls are being normalised among young people.
 
Social media platforms have become breeding grounds for misogynistic content, and at the same time, the widespread availability of violent and degrading pornography is shaping young people’s perceptions of sex and relationships.
 
We are in a safeguarding crisis, and it is being fuelled by tech companies that prioritise profits over people. These same companies are presiding over the introduction of Artificial Intelligence into education.
 
We cannot entrust this technology to the Silicon Valley tech bros who are only in it for the money. We will fight for AI to be used to support teachers, not to replace or micromanage them, and we will fight for regulation to force social media platforms to take real action against the algorithms pushing harmful ideas to our children.
 
The challenges before us this year are serious ones. Our education system is being starved of funds. Our professionalism and expertise are being undermined. Many of our children aren’t getting the opportunities they need. And the world outside the classrooms is in turmoil.
 
But we are a union of half a million members. Teachers, leaders and support staff. We are a union, with a high moral purpose, united in our shared desire to improve education for every child, in every classroom. We are a union that stands up for what is right when it’s right. We are a union built on the optimism that only solidarity can bring, and it is in times of struggle that we find our true strength.
 
So, let’s leave here, confident in the courage that our collectivism brings. Let’s leave here committed, energised and with a sense of purpose. That we can right the wrongs. That we can bring about change. That we can, through our collective endeavour, organise for a classroom that is creative, that is inclusive, that is resourced in abundance.
 
Because this isn’t just what we demand. It is what our parents demand and our children need!

This article is an abridged version of Daniel Kebede’s speech to NEU conference.