Report highlights salary discrepancies

Education staff working in young offender institutions earn
almost 10 per cent less than their colleagues in mainstream further
education, according to research published today,
writes Maria Ahmed.

The charity Forum on Prisoner Education found that curriculum
coordinators in the prison service earned an average £24, 479
compared to £27, 064 in the mainstream.

Tutors and lecturers in prisons earned seven per cent less,
while learning support assistants earned around four per cent less
than in the mainstream.

Steve Taylor, director of the Forum on Prisoner Education, said:
“The fact that we expect people to teach in a volatile and
sometimes dangerous environment, and then pay them less than their
colleagues in colleges, is an affront.

“If we’re going to encourage those at the coalface
of offender rehabilitation to stay in their jobs, we must pay them
a fair wage that reflects the difficult environment in which they
work.”

A report on education for school-age children in YOIs by the
Forum last year found that budgets were“woefully
inadequate.”

• A new all-party parliamentary group for offenders
learning and skills is to be launched in October.

See: www.fpe.org.uk