Smoke and mirrors move on teachers

A LOBBY of supply teachers outside the Senedd, on October 25 met with empty words from Kirsty Williams. As a smoke and mirrors move, she told the Assemly she was making more money available for supply teachers.

Note she did not say , I am restoring full pay and conditions to supply teachers, including payment into the teachers pension scheme. What she said amounted to nothing more than window dressing.

Therefore let it be known that the Welsh Assembly Government facilitates a system of discrimination and is not committed to equality. It allows private teaching supply agencies to make huge fortunes out of Welsh taxpayers, whilst at the same time these agencies operate a war of competition to undercut pay for teachers, and attract business from schools.

It discriminates against a select work force which is mainly female, and allows them to be robbed of their proper pay and conditions, and teacher’s pension. It places a de facto tax on them through registration with the Education Workforce Council, whether they find work or not.

Yet this is the same Welsh Government who are going to be given control of teachers pay and conditions. One can only cynically speculate that the Conservative London government are hoping that Welsh labour and their faithful liberal democrat will be making as much mess of education as they have done with our health.Such is the record of the SNP government with teachers pay, and the defunct Northern Ireland Assembly is even more shameful. Robert Ian Williams

Bangor is Y Coed