A TEACHER has told of her journey back to work — and the top of her union — after “micro-management” and underfunding drove her out of the classroom.

National Education Union (NEU) co-president Niamh Sweeney said returning to teach a vocational subject had reinforced her belief in a “broad and balanced curriculum.”

But reaching tears in her presidential speech at the union’s ATL sector conference, Ms Sweeney told delegates: “Four years ago, I walked out of the classroom, left students mid-way through their sixth form and felt horrifically guilty. I still do. I feared at the time that I was leaving forever.

“I was due to leave at the end of term for a job with the [local authority], but two weeks before the Easter break my doctor signed me off with burnout. I had a chest infection, had lost my voice and just couldn't put myself through it anymore.”

She said she felt “driven out by a toxic working and learning environment,” by “workload pressure and a micro-management regime” and by “a testing and exam system that sucks the love of learning out of everyone.”

But Ms Sweeney suggested that a Labour government could turn the tide, telling Jeremy Corbyn and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner to “please accept this as my submission to your ongoing consultation on the National Education Service.”

She had more scathing words for Tory education ministers, telling them her story was “your summative feedback.”

She added: “We need a commitment that the National Education Service will be built upon skills and knowledge.

“Not a continuation of the knowledge-based exam factory that burns out young people and teachers.”