Keighley schools (From Keighley News)

Keighley schools

9:10am Thursday 21st January 2010

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Scrimping school heads are keeping qualified teachers out of lessons in favour of unqualified classroom assistants, it is claimed.

Pam Milner, deputy secretary of the Bradford branch of the NASUWT union, believes some head teachers in the district are using more cover supervisors — who are not qualified teachers and are paid significantly less — to take lessons.

The knock-on effect was that qualified teachers were being recruited in fewer numbers and supply teachers were missing out on being taken on to replace sick teachers, forcing some to abandon the profession, she said.

Some overworked teachers were even taking a pay cut to become a cover supervisor for a less stressful working life and to claim back lost free time they should have been allotted in their weekly timetables, she said.

The work of a cover supervisor consists of delivering lessons planned by absent colleagues.

Mrs Milner’s claims come in response to figures obtained by the Conservatives, which show 404,600 teachers under the age of 60 in England and Wales were not working in teaching in March 2008. Mrs Milner said: “There are teachers in the Bradford district who are not being used in the classroom because heads are looking for money-saving ways of using cover supervisors who should be used only very short-term. Some agencies are saying to qualified teachers doing supply work that they will only offer them cover supervisor rates.”

She said there were other factors regarding the figures.

“There may be some teachers who don’t want to return to the classroom or take retirement but are still doing a bit of supply work,” she said.

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker insisted the teaching profession remained healthy.

He said: “We have the highest number of teachers for several decades, supported by a record number of teaching assistants. Recruitment is at its highest levels, retention rates are rising year on year and vacancies remain low.”

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