UNISON calls for tighter regulations

on use of teaching assistants

UNISON is calling for tighter regulations on the use of teaching assistants in schools.Speaking from the union's annual conference in Bournemouth, Christina McAnea, UNISON National Secretary for Education, said: "Our members tell us they are often being asked to take on additional duties including taking whole classes."Many of them have not received the right training or support. Importantly, they are also not paid for these extra responsibilities."We are pushing the government and the employers to provide much tighter regulations and for these to be more closely monitored. "The government's wider agenda for extended services, personalised learning and targeting resources towards the most disadvantaged children, will all be put at risk if the lack of training, low pay and exploitation."Rosemary Plummer, a teaching assistant and union rep from Islington, reported that more than 40 teaching assistants from a small area of London had told her they felt they were being asked to do more than they were qualified for."They're delivering maths, they're delivering literacy and marking work - that's a teacher's job. They're being used as cut-price teachers," she said.UNISON organises more than 200,000 schools support staff.