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‘I don't just want the NEU to be the biggest teachers' union. I want it to be the best’
Newly elected National Education Union vice-president AMANDA MARTIN speaks to the Morning Star about the challenges facing teachers and schoolchildren in Britain today

THE merger between the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) teaching unions to form the National Education Union (NEU) last year is seen as a breakthrough by many teachers.

The new union has over half a million members, which is hoped to give it greater industrial clout and strengthen teachers’ hand against governments which have relentlessly attacked their profession, scorned their expertise and turned too many of Britain’s schools into soulless exam factories.

As the fourth-largest union in the TUC, the NEU’s direction of travel is likely to have an effect beyond education as well, as a key player in shaping the approach of trade union organisation across the board.

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