Teachers have been offered a pay increase of more than 2% in the first of the government’s three-year deals, despite the prime minister’s pledge to cap public sector pay rises.
Schools secretary Ed Balls has accepted the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body that teachers should receive a 2.45% hike this September, followed by increases of 2.3% in 2009 and 2010.
This is in sharp contrast with prime minister Gordon Brown’s insistence that all public sector pay deals would be pegged at 2%.
Balls said: “Teachers are the backbone of our education system. We know that the most important factor in education, alongside the input of parents, is the quality of teachers.
“I believe this pay award, the first of the government’s three-year, forward looking, public sector pay awards, is fair for teachers and affordable for schools.”
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