Professor Reynolds defends education chiefs in Wales, and says they deserve more money, not less

Wales’s directors of education are overworked and underpaid compared with their English equivalents, a top academic has claimed.

A fierce debate surrounding the salaries of top local government officials took a twist this week when David Reynolds, professor of education at Plymouth University, spoke out in their defence – even saying they were due a pay rise.
He also claimed education directors, and their departments, were barely coping with the paperwork and edicts thrown at them by the Assembly government.

Responding to the findings of a TES Cymru investigation into the directors’ salaries, Professor Reynolds, who lives in South Wales, said: “This pay does not strike me as unreasonable – about two-thirds fall into the band £70-90,000. Most English directors would be paid six figures.”

The academic is among many calling for local government in Wales to be streamlined, along with proposals to reduce the number of health boards from 22 to eight.

Slipping standards in the education services offered by some local authorities – as well as huge variations – has strengthened campaigners’ calls.

One-third of education services were described as poor, and two-thirds likely to improve, in the 2006-7 report by Dr Bill Maxwell, chief inspector in Wales.

But Professor Reynolds said directors of education were struggling to keep up with the paperwork.

“We have a culture of consultation in Wales and they’re up against very short deadlines, with a lot to respond to,” said Professor Reynolds.

“The volume of stuff is a problem. I think they’re close to being overwhelmed. If anything, it’s an argument for more pay, not less.”

He also said the burdens of an education director could be bigger in a smaller authority.

Dr Phil Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru, said: “What we should be looking at here is not what the directors are paid, but what they are doing.

“Directors in small authorities often don’t have the resources of larger ones, and get bogged down in things they shouldn’t have to do. It means they cannot always look at the bigger picture.”

Local authorities increased from eight to 22 following reorganisation in 1996. Good education services are viewed by Assembly government policy-makers as vital in improving schools, and identifying those that need help early on.

Read more in this week's TES Cymru, out Friday May 9