A North East teacher has been elected the first single General Secretary of the country's largest teaching union. Primary school teacher Daniel Kebede will step into the role of General Secretary of the National Education Union from September 1.
He was elected to succeed Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney who stand down at the end of August. Mr Kebede said: “I am honoured to have been elected as the next general secretary of the National Education Union.
“I would like to thank everyone who has supported and campaigned for me. Education needs fundamental change – an end to real-terms pay cuts; an end to the massive overwork of staff: the end of Ofsted’s punitive regime and real increases in school funding.
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"I intend to build on the inspiring leadership given to the union by Kevin and Mary over the last six years and I look forward to working with Niamh in the coming years. I will not take up office until September so in the meantime I will do everything I can to build the union’s campaign for fully funded fair pay for educators.”
Mr Kebede got 28,636 votes compared with 12,918 for the other candidate Niamh Sweeney. The union has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with the Government over pay and has recommended that its members reject an offer it has been given.
Mr Kebede has a law degree from the University of Wales and has taught all ages from Early Years to Key Stage 4. His roles within the NEU include National Executive member from 2019, National President in 2021 and local officer in Durham.
Mr Kebede was the winner of the prestigious Blair Peach Award in 2017 for outstanding contributions to social justice. Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the NEU, said: “We offer warm congratulations to Daniel Kebede in his election as NEU General Secretary.
"Daniel will take up the post on 1 September. It is an honour to lead and serve NEU members and we know that Daniel will continue the union’s work to give a voice to the profession and campaign for the world class education system our children deserve.
"We offer our commiserations to Niamh Sweeney but welcome the fact that, from September, Daniel will be fortunate to work alongside Niamh in her role as our first elected Deputy General Secretary.”
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