Extend fully paid maternity leave for UK teachers to stem exodus, union says

The NASUWT says it is a ‘national scandal’ that so many teachers who quit say inadequate maternity support is one of the reasons Photograph: AzmanL/Getty Images

Full maternity pay for teachers across the UK should be increased to 26 weeks to help stem the exodus of women in their 30s from classrooms, a union leader has said.

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said it was a “national scandal” that so many teachers who quit said inadequate maternity support was one of the reasons.