02 July 2004
Favouring maths teachers over other specialists could deprive some subjects of staff and leave schools facing equal pay claims, teaching unions have warned.
Although teachers' leaders have welcomed the government's recognition of a recruitment problem in maths teaching, they have criticised plans to use pay as a lever to boost numbers.
Education Secretary Charles Clarke announced this week that, from September 2005, training bursaries and 'golden hellos' for maths graduates would each be increased by £1,000. The cap on pay is also to be raised, guaranteeing the most highly skilled maths teachers a minimum salary of £40,000.
But Chris Keates, acting general secretary of the National Union of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers, said a 'piecemeal' approach to pay did not work in the long term. 'Skewing the pay system in favour of one subject specialism can have unintended consequences in other areas.
'There is already sufficient flexibility in the existing arrangements to pay higher salaries and incentives. However, schools are often reluctant to use them because differentiating between staff in this way is divisive and can leave schools vulnerable to equal pay claims,' she said.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, echoed these concerns, adding that maths was not the only subject to be affected by recruitment problems.
'There is already considerable flexibility in the teachers' pay structure to pay higher salaries to individual classroom teachers,' he said. 'The problem for schools with maths recruitment problems is not the lack of flexibility. It is the lack of funding to pay the higher salaries.'
Keates said the government should focus its efforts on implementing the agreed pay and conditions package. 'These provisions are fair and sustainable and will undoubtedly have a positive impact on recruitment and retention once they are embedded,' she said.
Clarke's proposals stem from Making mathematics count, Professor Adrian Smith's report into the future of post-14 maths teaching, published in February, which called for higher salaries for maths teachers.
'The key issue is to raise the profile and esteem of mathematics,' Clarke said. 'In the meantime it is important we provide the right incentives to attract graduates to become mathematics teachers.'
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