Kevin Courtney (born 16 August 1959) is a Welsh former school teacher, and the joint (along with
Mary Bousted) General Secretary of the
National Education Union
The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers ...
, the largest teachers'
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Pontypridd
() ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Geography
comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...
, now in
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vill ...
, earlier part of
Mid Glamorgan
, Government= Mid Glamorgan County Council
, Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–)
, Start= 1974
, End= 1996
, Arms= ''Coat of arms of Mid ...
, and
Glamorgan before 1974. His mother was a cleaner at Glamorgan Polytechnic in Pontypridd, which became the Polytechnic of Wales in 1975, and the
University of Glamorgan
, image_name = University of Glamorgan arms.png
, image_size = 220px
, caption = University of Glamorgan coat of arms
, motto = Success Through Endeavour
, established =
, closed =
, administrative_staff =
, chancellor = John Morris ...
in 1992. He went to Trefforest Primary School and Coedylan Comprehensive, now called
Pontypridd High School.
From 1977-80 he studied Physics at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. In 1982 he completed a
PGCE at the
Chelsea College of Science and Technology
Chelsea College of Science and Technology was established as a College of Advanced Technology on a single site on the corner of Manresa Road and King's Road, Chelsea, London SW3, as part of the University of London in 1966 and was granted ...
.
Career
After graduating, Courtney worked as a physics teacher. While teaching physics at
Camden School for Girls
The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialist- ...
, a comprehensive school, he joined Camden
National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NUT members endorsed a proposed merger with ...
. In 1998 he founded the NUT's
School Teachers Opposed to Performance Pay (STOPP) campaign, to argue against
performance-related pay Performance-related pay or pay for performance, not to be confused with performance-related pay rise, is a salary or wages paid system based on positioning the individual, or team, on their pay band according to how well they perform. Car salesmen o ...
. From 1990–2010 he was the secretary of Camden NUT. He became a member of the NUT's national executive in 2006.
He became deputy General Secretary of the NUT in 2010. He became acting-leader of the NUT in May 2016 when
Christine Blower
Christine Blower, Baroness Blower (born 20 April 1951) was the eleventh General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, a trade union representing qualified teachers across England and Wales. In March 2018, she stood for election and was sh ...
stepped down as general secretary. He has been on the board of the
Teaching Awards ''The Teaching Awards'' is an annual teacher awards ceremony in the United Kingdom.
In 2008, the awards were hosted by Jeremy Vine and Myleene Klass. In 2009, the awards were hosted by Jeremy Vine and Christine Lampard. In 2010, Lenny Henry presen ...
.
On 15 July 2016, he became the General Secretary of the NUT, in a vote where he received 70% support.
In 2017, the NUT merged with the
Association of Teachers and Lecturers
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) was a trade union, teachers' union and professional association, affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, in the United Kingdom representing educators from nursery and primary education to further ...
(ATL) to form the
National Education Union
The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers ...
(NEU). Since then, Courtney has served as joint General Secretary of the NEU alongside
Mary Bousted, who was General Secretary of the ATL.
Politics as a union leader
Courtney has said he wants to have
National Curriculum assessments
The National Curriculum assessment usually refers to the statutory assessments carried out in primary schools in England, colloquially known as standard attainment tests (SATs).
The assessments are made up of a combination of testing and teacher ...
tests abolished.
He has worked with the
Anti Academies Alliance, a pressure group opposing the transfer of the operation of schools in England from the public sector to private-sector organisations.
He has appeared at the 21st century
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
conference, where he spoke on "Can the Labour movement defeat the
ConDems?"
Courtney is critical of funding cuts to education which he feels lead to larger classes and less well qualified people teaching children. Courtney said, "Whoever caused this economic crisis, it wasn't our five-year-olds in schools now,"
[Schools cutting posts amid 'funding catastrophe']
''BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' Courtney also fears many teachers could leave the profession. Courtney said, “If the government does not act decisively and soon, the recruitment and retention crisis will seriously damage our children and young people’s education.”
Courtney also stated, “Our own research shows that 81% of teachers have considered leaving the profession in the last year because of workload, driven in a large part by time-consuming data gathering that has little or nothing to do with children’s education. Real-terms pay cuts have put teaching far behind other graduate professions and, in London and other hotspots around the country, very high rents have also contributed to the problem. It is no surprise that, faced with this, teachers leave the profession.”
In June 2021, Courtney was asked his views on the vaccination of children to protect against Covid-19. He told the ''
'', "If JCVI look at the ethical questions and if they think on the ethical balance – and the MHRA say there is a high degree of safety – then in an ideal world we think it would be better if kids were vaccinated and had three weeks immunity before they come back to school in September." He recognised there were "ethical questions" because children "don't by and large get seriously ill", adding: "So if there is a risk from the vaccine, even if it is an incredibly small risk, an ethical question is raised about whether you give them something with a risk."
When the JCVI declined to back mass vaccinations for 12-15 year olds in September 2021, he said “this makes additional safety mitigations in schools all the more important.”
. He married Polly Donnison in July 1989 in north-east London. They have a son (born November 1989) and a daughter (born November 1993).