CUMBRIAN MP SUPPORTS BETTER PAY FOR TEACHING ASSISTANTS IN PARLIAMENT

Yesterday, during a debate in Westminster Hall on teaching assistant's pay, Cumbrian MP Tim Farron supported a petition calling for better pay for the position.

During the debate Tim highlighted how important the position was to schools who cater for children with special education needs or in the current economic climate within Cumbria. Tim made the point that the average wage of a teaching assistant is £19000 which is reduced to just over £14,000 if they are only paid during term-time; a regular occurrence due to budget constraints.

Tim said during the debate: "I ask the Minister to think very carefully about the impact on children of having demoralised teaching assistants who are either taking second and third jobs just to keep themselves going or, more likely, leaving the profession altogether.

"What does that mean for the quality of education? What does it mean for the stress levels of the teachers left behind to deal with large classes without any help whatsoever? What does it mean for children with special educational needs?

"We know how long it takes these days to get an education, health and care plan. Schools and teaching assistants have to carry the load before an EHCP is provided, and even when one is provided it is the schools that have to come up with the first £6,000 of the cost. Teaching assistants spend time with those children with the greatest level of need.

"If we want them to thrive, we need to invest in them, and that means paying people enough to keep them in their profession for a long time."

Tim also discussed the recent proposed pay raises for teachers which he called "overdue and insufficient". The offer currently stands at 6.5% of which 3.5% is unfunded from the Government. This leaves schools to find extra money from their already overstretched budgets to bridge the gap.

He said: "What can schools do? They cannot put prices up or increase their commercial revenue. They will, of course, pay the teachers their pay award, but that will mean having to cut other staff-which very often means teaching assistants. I am afraid that it looks like schools are having to pit teachers' pay awards against having teaching assistants. These folk, who are on low wages but do immense work, are being let go. I cannot think of a single school in my part of Cumbria that is not at least contemplating doing that."