The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which was one of seven teachers' unions to sign an agreement with the Government in January to work on measures to remodel the school workforce, said it could not 'divorce the lack of resources from the cost of implementing the Workload Reduction Agreement'.
NAHT general secretary David Hart said budget deficits, with 'some schools in the red up to six figures', made the workload reduction agreement undeliverable in many schools, with much of the financial pressure linked to pay, pension contributions and this month's 10 per cent increase in national insurance.
The Department for Education and Skills consultation package, launched last week, includes proposals to change teachers' contracts, regulations on the role of support staff, and a set of standards for higher-level teaching assistants. It said one of the aims of the standards was to 'provide confidence to head teachers that higher-level teaching assistants have the necessary skills, expertise and experience to take on a range of teaching and learning activities under the professional direction of a qualified teacher'.
The DfES consultation said that, in conjunction with prior experience and training, the standards would mean higher-level teaching assistants will be 'operating at a level of understanding and competence equivalent to NVQ Level 4'. They must be 'aware of national frameworks, typical curricula and teaching methods and expectations in the key stages or phases in which they are involved', and must have achieved a qualification in English/literacy and mathematics/numeracy, equivalent to at least Level 2 of the National Qualifications Framework.
The Government said it hoped to deliver contractual changes this September, 'which will see teachers working fewer hours and freed from the burdens of administrative tasks and excessive cover for absent colleagues'.
Unison, which represents 80,000 school support staff, has had talks with the Government on plans to enhance their role. Unison national secretary for education services Christina McAnea said, 'We are working to ensure these expanded roles happen in a controlled way. This is about raising the standard of education and this can only happen if the staff have been trained, there is a clearly defined system of supervision, and issues of pay and grading have been addressed.'
All the main teaching unions signed up to the workload reduction agreement, with the exception of the National Union of Teachers. The NUT said it had been reassured by education secretary Charles Clarke that any changes to teachers' contracts would be made by parliament and not by signatories to the agreement.
In a letter dated 4 April to the NUT Mr Clarke said, 'Nothing in the 15 January agreement overrides statutory consultation and parliamentary procedures.'
The NUT said that while it supported the NAHT's demand for proper funding to avoid redundancies in teaching or support staff, it opposed the head teachers' suggestion that signatories to the workload agreement could veto proposals to improve teachers' contracts and conditions.
NUT head of education John Bangs said, 'The NUT will insist that the reforms to reduce burdens on teachers, due to be implemented in September, go ahead. By refusing to sign the agreement, the NUT is free to advise members to refuse to accept unnecessary burdens.'