PNP UK has issued a strong statement condemning the alleged exploitation and underpayment of Jamaican teachers recruited by the Harris Federation for a secondary school in South London. The party is calling for urgent action to remedy the situation, citing reports of teachers being overworked, underpaid by up to £10,000, and forced to take strike action.

‘The PNPUK is totally appalled at the recent reports in mainstream media regarding alleged exploitation of Jamaican teachers at a secondary school in South London.

The fact that staff at Harris Beckenham have had to resort to strike action to seek redress to their reality of “being severely overworked to the point of exhaustion; having to deal with an unacceptable management style; and breaches of union rights”, is also a subject of major concern to us.

We deem it extremely unfortunate that The Harris Foundation is allegedly underpaying the Jamaican teachers (by up to £10000), after having committed to addressing this issue of poor pay 3 – 4 months ago.

We call on The Harris Foundation to urgently address the contending issues and ensure that the Jamaican teachers are afforded the opportunity to experience a good standard of life in the UK. The fact of them having actively recruited these overseas trained teachers from Jamaica, places that responsibility squarely within their remit.

The PNPUK stands with the Jamaican teachers on this issue and strongly recommend that The Harris Foundation act speedily to address/remedy all the issues raised.’