Retirees asked to plug gaps

11th October 2002, 1:00am

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Retirees asked to plug gaps

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/retirees-asked-plug-gaps
The staffing crisis has led to colleges enticing back lecturers, some of whom are 70. Robert Boyland reports

FURTHER education colleges have had to tempt back retired lecturers over the age of 60 to cover teaching gaps, as the recruitment and retention crisis deepens.

A survey by the Association of Colleges shows teaching vacancies in FE colleges are on the increase. Poor pay compared to schools and industry is cited by nine out of 10 colleges as a key factor.

Staff vacancy rates in colleges are now double that in schools, at 2.4 per cent compared to 1.2 per cent. There were 3,239 FE teaching vacancies in September 2002 compared to 2,600 in September 2001, an increase of 25 per cent.

Support staff and management vacancies have increased by 44 per cent on last year, with almost 5,000 positions vacant across the sector.

The AoC findings confirm evidence in FE Focus last week (October 4) that colleges are struggling to fill key vacancies in basic skills, construction, social care and A-levels.

The starting salary for a teacher is pound;17,595, rising to pound;32,217 on a six-point scale. For FE lecturers, the starting salary is pound;14,581, rising to pound;26,423 on a 14-point scale.

Ivan Lewis, adult skills and lifelong learning minister, has pledged the gap will be closed. Plans for investment and reform of the sector are set to be unveiled by Education Secretary Estelle Morris at the AoC’s annual conference on November 19.

Ivor Jones, the AoC’s director of employment policy, said: “To see such a significant rise in the number of vacancies in the space of 12 months is startling.

“We are all looking forward to hearing what Estelle Morris has to say at the AoC conference, which will give us more detail and back up the sound bites that are coming out,” said Mr Jones.

“There is no more money in the system this year in which to move forward with the pay negotiations and we still have the threat of industrial action on November 5.

“Staff and employers need to know if there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Lecturers’ union Natfhe called on the Government to close the growing pay gap quickly. “These figures show that urgent action is needed to stem the haemorrhage of staff out of the sector into schools and industry,” said Paul Mackney, general secretary.

“The 2.3 per cent offered by college employers will just turn the pay gap into a chasm,” he added.

Leeds Technology College has been forced to employ retired former lecturers as old as 70 to ensure classes are covered because of the shortage of applicants for some teaching posts. The college, which has 6,000 students, runs specialist courses in engineering, multimedia, publishing, electronics, and IT. It has advertised three times in the past 18 months for a lecturer in electrical installation.

“We had no more than four applicants in that time. And the two people we appointed both left within six months because the salaries are so much better in industry,” said principal Jim MacWilliams.

The college was forced to close a popular course in electronic publishing because it could not recruit teaching staff.

A college advert for seven IT lecturers resulted in only three appointments because of lack of interest.

An electronic publishing course leader on around pound;24,000 a year was poached by a local company which offered double that amount to secure their services.

“It’s important we have lecturers of the highest calibre to do the best we can for students, but it’s getting more and more difficult each year when the salaries and performance grades within the college are not at the same level as in schools or universities,” said Mr MacWilliams.

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