TAYSIDE’S LARGEST public services union yesterday vowed to fight tooth and nail for a fairer deal for classroom assistants after a national report described them as “scandalously underpaid and overworked.”

Rory Malone, Tayside branch secretary of Unison, said a nationwide investigation into the role of the 15,000 classroom assistants at work in Scotland’s schools had found that some classroom assistants are earning as little as £5.68 an hour, making them among the lowest-paid local government workers in Scotland.

The shocking report by the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland (EOC) published yesterday reveals that the number of classroom assistants has trebled since they were introduced in 1998 and they now play an integral role in supporting teachers across most primaries and secondaries.

Mr Malone said Unison represented around 60 classroom assistants working in primary and secondary schools in Tayside and said their jobs had changed out of all recognition since they were first introduced in 1998.

He said the union was involved in a review that would determine the correct salary scale for classroom assistants.

He added, “The job evaluation exercise should hopefully identify what salary they should be on.

“It seems that changes to their duties is an acceptable part of their jobs but they are not getting the appropriate remuneration for the vital work they do in both primary and secondary classrooms.”

EOC Scotland, who published the report, said it wants the development of a national framework which would set out the role of classroom assistants and provide proper recognition of their work.

The report’s recommendations include the creation of a national action group led by local authorities, the Scottish Executive and trade unions to address the imbalance.

However, Pat Watters, president of CoSLA, which represents local authorities, said the report was “over the top.”

He said, “It was no surprise to councils that the report showed the valuable role they play and, of course, classroom assistants have a right to equal pay.

“Scottish councils recognise this and are using agreed methods of measuring jobs to ensure it happens.”

The report found that hourly rates of pay for classroom assistants vary between £5.68 and £7.58 an hour with annual salaries ranging between £7000 and £10,000.

However, 97% of the 934 teachers surveyed felt that pupils are benefiting from the employment of classroom assistants mainly because pupils receive more individual help and support.

Shelagh McLean, HR consultant with Fife Council’s education service, said that Fife has 224 classroom assistants.

She said, “We have had a meeting with the EOC regarding classroom assistants’ pay and it became clear that they were talking about all support positions such as teaching auxiliaries etc.

“In all these positions, including classroom assistants, we have 1171 employees.

“Fife Council is implementing Single Status. Following reviews carried out by the local authority on this, Education Services met with the EOC to discuss the issues they are raising.

“Following discussions, Fife Council developed a career structure for all of these positions which now consists of three levels of support assistant.

“Full-time equivalent salary across the three levels ranges from £12,483 to £21,625, which equates to £6.65 to £11.50 and hour, which is well above the figures quoted.”

Ms McLean added, “The knowledge and skills required are identified for each level and rewarded accordingly and we feel this recognises the value placed on these positions by Education Services.”

A spokeswoman for Angus Council said, “In Angus, we employ 119 primary school assistants, 32 primary school/clerical assistants and 53 secondary school assistants.

“They are seen as valued team members within our schools.”