PUBLIC SECTOR
NUT rejects proposals to introduce performance-related pay into schools
The National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, has attacked proposals by MPs on a select committee to link teachers’ pay to performance.
School teachers’ pay should reward those who “add the greatest value to pupil performance”, according to the House of Commons Education Committee.
Commenting on the committee’s report, “Great Teachers: attracting, training and retaining the best”, Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary, said:
“Payment by results is total nonsense. Children are not tins of beans and schools are not factory production lines. Successful schools rely on a collegiate approach and team working. Performance-related pay (PRP) is not only inappropriate but also divisive. Children and young people differ and class intakes differ from year to year making it impossible to measure progress in simplistic terms. PRP will create even more difficulties for schools facing the most challenges as teachers will realise that they will get no thanks for teaching their students but will get more money by going elsewhere.”
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She added: “Teaching is becoming increasingly less attractive as a profession for graduates to choose to enter and for those already in it. Unless the government addresses the issue of pay and pensions as well as a punishingly high workload and accountability system, no amount of ‘marketing’ will convince graduates that teaching is an attractive career.”
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Title: “Great teachers: attracting, training and retaining the best”, Ninth Report of Session, 2010-12, House of Commons Education Committee, May 2012.
Availability: To download the report in PDF format visit www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/publications/.