A SURVEY from the Royal Society suggests that many technicians feel underpaid and undervalued. Yet many enjoy their job and would like more responsibility.
More than 1,900 schools and colleges and more than 5,000 individual technicians responded to a joint Assciation for Science EducationRoyal Society questionnaire designed to establish the variety of duties carried out by science technicians, and their pay and conditions. A previous ASE survey resulted in a new qualification for technicians (an SNVQ) and new support for technicians within the ASE.
A working party, chaired by Sir John Horlock, will collate responses to the current survey and, in a second volume of the report to be published later this year, press for improvements in the status of technicians.
The report, Survey of Science Technicians in Schools and Colleges, is available from the Royal Society, 6 Carlton House, London SW1Y 5AG. Tel: 020 7451 2570. E-mail: education@royalsoc.ac.ukWeb: www.royalsoc.ac.uk
