Teachers warn of job cuts

Class sizes throughout the country will rise because of the Government's failure to fund the teachers' pay rise, local authorities said yesterday.

Unions warned of more teacher redundancies. Around 9,000 teaching jobs have been lost in the past two years. Councils did not have the money to cover the full cost of the deal, Graham Lane, education committee chair of the Local Government Association, said. The National Union of Teachers said that experienced teachers would lose pounds 15 a month because of the decision to phase the award of 2 per cent from April and a further 1.3 per cent in December.

Peter Smith, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "Tragically, the Government's refusal to meet the cost of today's award will unleash another brutal round of staff redundancies." Doug McAvoy, the NUT's general secretary, said: "This is the second year running that teachers have been cheated by a penny-pinching prime minister. Phasing will save the Government pounds 103m. "

Gillian Shephard, the Secretary of State for Education, said: "I believe this is a fair settlement for teachers which reflects the ... need to ensure that the profession attracts, retains and motivates individuals."

Classroom pay rates

Now 1 April 1Dec

Teacher on

point 2 pounds 14,001 pounds 14,280 pounds 14,463

Teacher on

point 9 pounds 20,901 pounds 21,318 pounds 21,591

Headteacher

on point 10 pounds 28,191 pounds 28,755 pounds 29,121

Headteacher

on point 38 pounds 43,356 pounds 44,223 pounds 44,787