teaching - school challenges government
WORKERS, MAR 2005 ISSUE
A primary school in Essex has said that without extra money it will not implement the workload agreement forced through by the government last year. Instead, the headteacher, the governors and the staff at North Primary School in Colchester are challenging the government to come up with the cash to fund it.
By this September, teachers will be entitled by law to a guaranteed 10% of their working week for planning, preparation and assessment. This is hardly a generous allocation (imagine a lawyer being told to spend 90% of the time in court and 10% preparing and handling the case). But the government has failed to fund even this modest initiative, and schools are being forced to break the law or employ unqualified staff to fill posts cheaply.
But schools that have indicated that they cannot or will not be meeting their obligation are not to be prosecuted. Instead, government is offering support to encourage them to use other means, such as classroom assistants.
The NUT opposed the original workload arrangement and did not take part in the negotiations. Now other unions are having a rethink. Angry heads have forced their union, the NAHT, to call an emergency general meeting to discuss the matter. Teaching unions will have to work together to decide on the best tactics that will ensure better conditions of service, while forcing government to cough up.