General Teaching Council Northern Ireland

Good news for classroom assistants

10-02-2009

Department of Education

Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane, has announced that up to 750 classroom assistants will receive a share of £1.3million as a result of the implementation of job evaluation.

The classroom assistants are employed in voluntary grammar schools and grant maintained integrated schools.

Agreement on a job evaluation exercise was reached in November 2007 between the Education and Library Boards, as employers, and their classroom assistants. This agreement did not cover classroom assistants in voluntary grammar schools or grant maintained integrated schools, who are employed by the schools Board of Governors. The funding is to ease the financial pressures schools may experience in implementing job evaluation.

The Minister said: "I am pleased that this anomaly is to be put right. I have listened to the concerns raised by grant maintained and voluntary grammar schools about the potential financial implications to them of implementing the 2007 agreement and am now able to make this money available.

“All classroom assistants carry out invaluable work in schools with our most vulnerable children. It is only fair that all are rewarded on the same basis and I hope any monies due can be distributed quickly.

"The establishment of the Education and Skills Authority from 1 January 2010 will see it become the single employing authority for the education sector. This important move will help ensure staff doing similar jobs are on similar terms of employment.”

 

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