The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has welcomed the Education Secretary’s direction to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) that it should look at issues of pay in the light of raising the status of the teaching profession.
In his letter to the new chair of the STRB, Dame Patricia Hodgson, Michael Gove states his aim of supporting high quality teaching by attracting even more of the best entrants into teaching and establishing links between pay and performance.
The STRB has been directed by Mr Gove to examine a number of issues affecting these objectives and has requested that the body reports its findings back to him in September.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “We welcome the long-awaited new remit for the STRB. The quality of the workforce is the central issue in education; pay and conditions are one of the ways to shape it.
“Regionalised public sector pay is a distraction in the education sector, which could only widen the gap in attainment between richer and poorer communities. But we look forward to a debate on greater flexibility within a simplified national pay framework and, in particular, to a stronger link between progression and performance - to help heads meet their sharper accountabilities on teaching and learning. It is also now long overdue that we sort out the ambiguous position of executive heads. The NAHT has innovative proposals on these topics to help re-energise teachers and leaders and thereby improve the quality of teaching.”
Michael Gove's letter can be viewed on the DfE web site
Page Published: 22/02/2012
