I have spent my working life hoping to open up the life chances, the lifelong chances, of others.  

I am proud to be a teacher and to have educated thousands of young people in my career as a teacher of physics and chemistry.  

So why does the coalition government label me an “enemy of promise”?

Perhaps the answer lies in the quote from an honorary National Union of Teachers (NUT) member, the great Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

I think Michael Gove and I have somewhat different visions of how we want to change the world.

His words often sound promising and very plausible but trust me, I’m a teacher — that’s a qualified teacher. I listen but I also assess, reflect critically on practice and evaluate it.

How about this quote, made in September 2013: “It is because the teaching profession is so crucial that our programme of education reform has been designed to empower teachers, to give them more freedom, more power and more prestige.”

Oh really? So crucial that you have allowed academies and free schools to employ unqualified teachers?

The NUT asked teachers: “To what extent have government reforms empowered teachers? 20 per cent said ‘not very much,’ but 69 per cent replied ‘not at all.’”

The NUT YouGov survey last year revealed 79 per cent of teachers say the government impact on education has been overwhelmingly negative and 74 per cent report a decrease in teacher morale since the 2010 general election.

This is hardly surprising given the almost daily denigration of teachers by the government and their friends in the right-wing media.

All of the evidence shows that qualified teachers are essential for quality education. We know it, parents know it and the NUT has never deviated from the simple message.

We believe your children and grandchildren should be taught by a qualified teacher every lesson of every day. Nothing less will do.

Gove and Michael Wilshaw say we have the best generation of young teachers ever.

Fantastic. I celebrate my young colleagues but also add that that’s because my colleagues and I taught those young teachers and inspired them.

Now we are losing these very teachers in droves. A worrying number are leaving the profession — good teachers, successful teachers, wonderful teachers, experienced teachers.

You would think that this should be of great concern to the government and that they would want to know why. Wouldn’t you?

The NUT asked teachers about the reality of their work in 2013. The findings would be of concern to anyone who valued teachers and valued education.

Teachers said they were now less likely to remain in the profession especially because of the conditions they work under.

These are teachers who are not trusted or treated by government like the professionals they are.

These are teachers with an unsustainable workload a significant part of which does not directly benefit children’s learning — data overload, data that’s compiled for Ofsted, not for learning.

These are teachers who know they cannot work until 68, 69 or 70.

That is why the NUT is asking teachers to stand up for education, to engage, to pressure and to take action. To involve parents and the public by telling their stories.

The response from the weekend stalls the NUT has run over the past two months has been magnificent — from parents, from grandparents and from those with no children at all, because education is important.

To pressure politicians by talking directly to local MPs, exposing the truth behind the political rhetoric and asking politicians why — when education is so vital to the future of the country — they can just sit and watch as we hurtle towards a crisis of teacher supply.

And finally to take action. Teachers do not take strike action lightly. We care very much about the children and young people we teach and the communities in which we work.

But we cannot stand by when teachers’ pay is eroded, our pensions attacked and our workload is unsustainable.

Gove says he is always willing to talk. We are willing to talk too.

But he has not yet done anything to address our very real and immediate concerns.

How exactly does depressing pay, worsening pensions and increasing workload help recruit and retain qualified teachers in our classrooms?

Our union says enough is enough. The NUT is not afraid to lead the fight for decent pay, pensions and working conditions for teachers.

We are very positive about working with other unions, to co-ordinate action together. But if we don’t stand up for education now, who will? We are not afraid to lead the fight. We are the largest teachers’ union in Europe and must be a strong defender of teachers’ rights.

Our conference this weekend will decide the next steps in our campaign, building on all three elements, to engage, pressure and take action and we hope this will be a clarion call to all those who care about our children’s future.

Together, we will stand up for education.

Max Hyde is national president of the NUT.