WHEN appointed, the new vice-principal/director of Blackburn College will command a salary of some £55,000.

Performance-related pay details will, no doubt in our new open Blairite society, remain undisclosed as in the past -- even with Jack Straw on the college's board.

What can be disclosed is the hourly rate of part time lecturers at Blackburn College.

And one needs to remember that the "hourly" rate contains "elements" of preparation, marking, holidays, administration and allied duties, which, as any non-further or higher education tutor knows, have increased by more than ten times over the last decade. For those in the middle grade, the hourly rate in 1995 was £19.29. This year, it was £17.40.

Not all part timers have a full timetable and some only do a small number of hours, but depend upon the money.

So £20, worth £20 in 1993 is now worth £17.27 at a conservative estimate, and part time lecturers have still not reached the figure of £19.29 which a compulsory un-negotiated pay cut, which was ignored by the London-based NATFME, the lecturers main union, left us with.

So, for a career where a kick in the teeth is an almost everyday event, come into the world of teaching. And be prepared for pay cuts.

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