Teachers will deliver online lessons from home after college dispute resolved
CEO Gerry McDonald - Credit: Mike Brooke+Google
New City College (NCC) tutors across east London will give online lessons remotely, rather than having to travel in to campuses, after the dispute ended last night.
Teachers had raised health and safety concerns after group principal and chief executive Gerry McDonald demanded they deliver the Microsoft Teams lessons from the classroom.
But, following the government’s announcement that England would enter another national lockdown last night, the college has confirmed tutors can work from home to give the classes.
An NCC spokesperson said the matter had now been resolved and criticised the teaching staff who contacted this website to raise their concerns.
She said: “It is disappointing that a minority of staff decided to air concerns with a local newspaper, in contrast to the majority who engaged in productive internal discussions resulting in an outcome that meets the needs of students and staff.”
However, a teacher at the Havering College sixth form site in Hornchurch said the government’s announcement had vindicated the staff’s position.
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They said: “None of this was resolved until the prime minister made the lockdown announcement last night.
“The fact we are now being told to stay and work from home vindicates the 50 or so staff who sent in section 44 letters to say they wouldn’t come in today.
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“Gerry McDonald has shown himself to not have any care for his staff and this is not a happy campus at all.”
NCC runs colleges and sixth forms across east London, with Havering College sites based in Hornchurch, Rainham and Ardleigh Green, as well as campuses in Poplar, Chadwell Heath, Stepney Green, Hackney and Loughton.
It is estimated the college group employs almost 1,000 staff, with around 150 of them based at the sixth form centre in Hornchurch.
Yesterday was not the first time tensions had flared between the college’s senior management and teaching staff.
In December 2019, staff walked out on strike at NCC campuses at Poplar and Stepney Green in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
