24 March 2006

Part-time Tyneside teachers win grant to improve their skills

A union project to improve training for part-time and temporary teachers in the north-east has won a £3,000 grant.

The project, ‘Fair play for part-time staff’, has been put together by NATFHE – The University & College Lecturers’ Union, in response to widespread claims that part-time workers in colleges and adult education services have little or no access to on-the-job training.

Temporary, agency and part-time workers provide nearly 40% of teaching in this part of the education system, and include very large numbers of women, and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The union will conduct a survey of temporary, agency and part-time staff in colleges and adult education services in Tyneside, and run sessions with these staff to try and discover what is stopping them from getting training.

It will also recruit and train part-time workers to become ‘union learning representatives’ – union members who are dedicated to working with managers to improve training at work.

Once the research is completed, the project will recommend practical steps to improve training for part-time teachers in the north-east and the rest of the UK.

In his recent influential report into the future of further education, Sir Andrew Foster called for improved staff training.
 
Diana Clarke, NATFHE union learning organiser in the north, said:

‘In the north-east there are literally thousands of part-time lecturers. Most of these people are on casual contracts, many working through agencies, and so they tend to be at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to keeping up to date with on-the-job skills.

‘These staff work hard to improve the skills and prospects of thousands of people in the north-east but no one seems bothered if they just fall by the wayside.’

John McCormack, lecturer at Northumberland College and NATFHE Regional Chair in the north-east, said:
 
‘Institutions find it difficult to grasp the learning needs of this group of staff, let alone provide appropriate support. We hope that this project will provide us with much-needed facts to make a strong case for improving training for these vulnerable education workers. In the long term, better training will equal better skills for everyone in the region.’

Notes to editors

• ‘Fair play for part-time staff’ was one of 24 winning projects chosen by the Learning for All Fund of the Northern Region of the Trades Union Congress.
• The project will begin in April 2006.
• NATFHE’s bid was submitted in conjunction with the Association of Part-Time Tutors
• Findings from the project could be applied to part-timers across the rest of the country.

Contacts
Diana Clarke, NATFHE union learning organiser in the north: 0161-7727012/07968-621612
Vicky Wilks, press officer: 020-75203207/07970-383995
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