NUT on planning, preparation and assessment time for teachers

31 August 2005

Commmenting on the introduction of PPA time for every teacher from the beginning of the new term, Steve Sinnott, NUT General Secretary, said:

"The NUT has long campaigned for guaranteed time outside the classroom during the pupil day for lesson planning, preparation and assessment. This campaign has come to fruition with teachers now having a statutory right to a minimum 10 per cent of the teaching week for this work.

"But the quality of education received by pupils must not be diminished by the use of people who are not qualified teachers undertaking teaching work in the classroom. Parents must be alert to the possibility of schools using unqualified people in this way.

"The Government must recognize that provision of PPA time can only contribute to ever improving standards in our schools. But it must ensure that every school has an adequate supply of teachers to ensure this reform is put into effect without any reduction in the quality of education available to the nation's children's."