NAHT delegate at Scarborough conference

Union Demands More Pay To Stop Teacher Exodus

A survey by the National Association of Head Teachers showed a massive increase in heads quitting their jobs early - up 90% on last year overall and even more in London boroughs and new unitary authorities. The figures were released at the union's annual conference in Scarborough.

The NAHT general secretary, David Hart, said many schools would struggle to find replacements, fatally undermining the Government's drive to raise school standards, unless it boosted pay and school funding.

Hart: more pay and resources

And he urged the Education Secretary, David Blunkett, to "fight his corner" for more resources with Chancellor Gordon Brown. "We are happy to support Mr Blunkett's drive to higher standards, but he is going to have to fight his corner in Cabinet over pay and resources," Mr Hart told journalists at a briefing.

"We don't expect miracles in the short term, but we do expect a new Government to deliver by putting more of the national income into education."

Early and ill-health retirements among head teachers have been rising steadily in recent years, but the trend has been accelerated by thousands attempting to beat a planned change in retirement rules.

But the Education Minister, Stephen Byers, has said there is no quick solution to stop the rising number of head teachers taking early retirement.

Byers: no magic wand

"In the medium and long term additional resources will be made available for education in general," he said.

"But there's no magic wand and the public realise that, but what we do need to do by working together is to estabish a regime which will improve the standards of education that our children receive," insisted Mr Byers.

But Mr Hart warned: "Many schools will have acting head teachers in post next year. This cannot help the drive for higher standards which the new Government is spearheading."

And he said the Government should not imagine that the "mass exodus" would be halted by changing pensions regulations - or that replacements would be found easily without salaries that reflected the burdens of the job.

"Ministers must not think that they can sweep this problem under the carpet by just shutting off the escape route, without addressing the reasons why heads are leaving."

Figures from 64 of 132 English education authorities showed:

• a total of 1,119 heads and deputies took early or ill-health retirement this year, compared with 741 last year - up 62%. The biggest increase was in the number of heads retiring early, up by 90% from 275 to 522.

• the number of head teachers taking ill-health retirement was up by 20.4% from 162 to 195.

• in London boroughs, premature retirement among heads and deputies shot up by 115.7%, and in some local authorities by 190%.