Nursery World - Editor's view (18)

Schools across the country are up in arms about shortfalls in their budget allocations which, they say, mean that it will be impossible for them to implement the Workload Reduction Agreement, with massive implications for teachers and teaching assistants (see News, page 4). The problems are not surprising if we look at what has already been happening where improved pay and career structures have been agreed for nursery nurses and classroom assistants. In some areas, an attractive-looking pay scale and grading structure has been rendered more-or-less meaningless because budgets dictate that no-one is being put on the higher grades and new posts are all being advertised at the bottom of the scale.

The problems are not surprising if we look at what has already been happening where improved pay and career structures have been agreed for nursery nurses and classroom assistants. In some areas, an attractive-looking pay scale and grading structure has been rendered more-or-less meaningless because budgets dictate that no-one is being put on the higher grades and new posts are all being advertised at the bottom of the scale.

The latest budget shortfalls mean that this problem can only get worse, with likely cuts in jobs and hours for teaching assistants and teachers left with little prospect of losing their administrative burdens. All the worthy aims for a raft of higher-level teaching assistants to take on enhanced roles and for all support staff to have a proper career structure look out of reach at the moment.

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