§ 10. Mr. Onslowasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will commission an inquiry into the career structure of the teaching profession.
§ Mr. Edward ShortAs I told the hon. Member for Cornwall, North (Mr. Pardoe) on 2nd December, I am prepared to consider an examination of the structure of teachers' salary scales.
§ Mr. OnslowDoes not the Secretary of State agree that unless such action is taken and unless the root causes of the present regrettable situation are removed, teaching may cease to be a profession worthy of the name?
§ Mr. ShortI certainly hope that agreement can be reached between the local authorities and the teachers' organisations on a radical review of the structure of teachers' salaries.
Mr. Newens: Would not my right hon. Friend agree that more emphasis should be placed in future on making the basic scale sufficiently attractive to good teachers who want to do a good job in the class-room, rather than on making the rewards at the top more attractive in the hope of keeping more teachers in the profession to scramble after these places?
§ Mr. ShortThese differences of opinion illustrate the need for a review of the whole structure. I am quite sure that 621 the structure of salary scales has become distorted because there have been too many across-the-board increases.
§ Mrs. ThatcherWhat kind of review has the right hon. Gentleman in mind—an internal departmental review, or a more public review?
§ Mr. ShortI have nothing in mind at all about this yet. All I am trying to do is to interest both parties—and I do not employ the teachers; the local authorities employ them—to interest local authorities and teachers' organisations in some sort of radical review of the salary scales.