Leading article: Power to teach

Now that teenagers aged 14 to 16 are able to opt to be educated in further education (FE) colleges, lecturers are being confronted with the kind of difficult behaviour that previously only teachers in schools saw. So, it is right that the Government should legislate to give FE lecturers the power to restrain unruly children who need to be removed from the classroom or otherwise controlled. It was a anomaly that they were required to teach disaffected youngsters without being able to do so effectively. Lecturers need the same powers as teachers. When will the Government decide that they also need the same pay?