Blunkett not teacher's pet over laptop offer to heads

Teachers unions say they are unimpressed with the government's plan to spend £3m buying laptops for new head teachers.

Education and Employment secretary, David Blunkett, announced the measure late last week. The laptops will be handed out to 1200 new head teachers this year, a move the government says will help them collaborate on best practice and improve training.

The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) dismissed the move as a "gimmick." The union's deputy general secretary, Eamonn O'Kane, said, "We are a little used to the government engaging in these sorts of publicity exercises. They do attract headlines, usually quickly forgotten, because they don't materially alter the conditions under which teachers or head teachers operate."

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) was more circumspect. "The heads will find having a laptop very useful, as the average head teacher works in excess of 60 hours per week," commented a NUT spokeswoman.

She continued; "But classroom teachers - who work over 50 hours per week on average - are getting only a £200 subsidy for laptops. We want to see a greater equity of treatment." She described the subsidy for teachers as "inadequate" given that a laptop costs about £1500, and classroom teachers earn less than the heads.

The NUT also accused the government of providing inadequate funding for in-service IT training. Sixty percent of teachers are over 40, meaning most teachers are dependent on in-service training for their IT skills.

But the NUT spokeswoman said the move was not a meaningless gesture. "The government is investing in education," she said, citing money spent on reducing class sizes and purchasing books. "One of the problems with education is that it is an expensive service, and there is never enough money."