Classroom Assistants research points to unfair pay

by Chris Bartter

An Equal Opportunities Commission formal investigation into the role and status of Classroom Assistants in Scottish primary schools - called Valuable Assets - has shown they were working at high levels of responsibility but at the bottom end of pay.

The staff are mostly part-time. This meant that their pay was at the lowest of local government pay scales and indeed is little more than the statutory minimum wage.

Carol Judge, UNISON's Scottish Organiser (Local Government) said, "UNISON is pleased to be working with the EOC to carry forward this important research.

"We are aware that Classroom Assistants do a wide range of jobs, jobs that can contribute significantly to the learning and teaching of children. "We have said for some time that they are undervalued for what they do and will be looking forward to the forthcoming investigation into the higher level roles and the impact of the part-time gender pay gap."

The research has found that Classroom Assistants are 99% women who mostly work (and are paid for) term time only. They typically are aged 31-50. However their salary is paid over the whole year resulting in an hourly rate of between £5.05 and £8.93. The current minimum wage is £5.05 per hour for workers aged 22 and over.

The results were reported to a meeting of UNISON's Local Government Group in Edinburgh last month.

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