Teachers in England and Wales are to receive a 2.5 per cent pay rise

Teachers in England and Wales are to receive a 2.5 per cent pay rise from next April followed by a further 2.5 per cent in April 2005 and topped up to 3.25 per cent the following September. Education secretary Charles Clarke said last week that it would 'help headteachers plan for the future, help restore stability and certainty to school budgets, and support the drive to raise standards in our classrooms'. However, teachers' unions reacted angrily. NASUWT general secretary Eamonn O'Kane said, 'Following the funding furore and calls for "predictability and certainty" in school budgets, teachers were already suspicious that...