Thirty representatives from Kirklees Unison were outside Huddersfield Town Hall at 8.30am for the start of the North of England Education Conference which Ms Morris was scheduled to address. They carried placards with messages such as 'Did you get paid over Christmas? We didn't' and 'Justice for term-time workers'.
Mike Forster, the joint chief education steward for Kirklees Unison, had a brief exchange with the education secretary on her arrival. He said, 'Ms Morris said she was in discussions with the unions nationally and this was between the local authorities and the unions. I said, local authorities say they need the resources from the Government and she said the discussions would continue. We were pleased to be able to bring the matter to her attention and let her know the strength of feeling on the ground.' He added, 'The Government is trying to get teaching on the cheap because of the teacher shortage. Classroom assistants are already doing teachers' work but not being recognised for it, and there is a huge gap between their pay and teachers' pay.
'Classroom assistants have got second-class status and they are being exploited. We are not asking for them to have teachers' salaries, but for them to be on 52-week contracts, the same as teachers and nursery nurses.' Kirklees Unison has been campaigning for school support staff, including classroom assistants, to be on 52-week annual contracts, rather than 44 weeks. At present classroom assistants in Kirklees, who earn on average between 6,000 and 8,000 a year, and those in most of the rest of the country are not paid during the school holidays and not entitled to claim jobseekers' allowance.
Last November Ms Morris said she wanted schools to make 'full use' of teaching assistants to free up teachers to spend more time planning lessons. At last week's conference she again raised the issue of classroom assistants playing an increasing role.
A Department for Education and Skills spokesperson said, 'Our proposals to remodel the school workforce should bring new career opportunities for teaching assistants and other support staff, as well as benefiting teachers. The pay and conditions of teaching assistants and other support staff are matters for local authorities and schools to determine. It will be important for them to consider any new roles proposed, and how pay should reflect the responsibilities of the job.'
