IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7 February 2003

Government pay award treats teachers with contempt saysNUT

Commenting on the Governments increaseof 2.9, Doug McAvoy, General Secretary of the NUT representing 225,000 teachersthroughout England and Wales, said:

The Governmentis treating teachers with contempt. It has frozen teachers pay at the level ofinflation. It will have no positive impact on recruitment and retention.

There willstill be a gap of around 12 per cent between the salary of new teachers and thepay for comparable graduate occupations.

Freezingteachers pay will do nothing to retain teachers. They will be angry that theirpay is frozen so that more support staff can be employed. Teachers are payingfor the agreement on remodeling school staffing.

The proposalsfor London provide some recognition of the particular problems of the innercity whilst ignoring the similar problems of the rest of London and the fringeareas. Even in inner London, the teacher has to stay for six or seven yearsbefore they are paid 5,000 more than teachers elsewhere to compensate for theextra expense of the capital. This compares with a London wide allowance forthe police of more than 6,000.

The solution tothe problems of London and the fringe areas is to award teachers in innerLondon an allowance of not less than 6,000 with matching increases elsewhere.

TheGovernments plan will not attract young teachers to London.

E N D Pr.12/03