Education staff ‘underpaid and undervalued’

Prison education is in the grips of a workforce crisis driven by low pay and poor conditions, universities and colleges union UCU says – and a new report from the Education Select Committee offers support to its view.

Prison educators’ wages are significantly inferior to those in schools and colleges, and sustained government investment is the only way to attract, train and retain the staff needed to deliver “the transformative education those in our prisons deserve”.

Kim Johnson, MP for Liverpool Riverside and a member of the committee said: “Prison educators are critically underpaid and undervalued, despite teaching in some of the most uniquely difficult environments. We are facing a crisis in recruitment and retention, and a push for more resources and better conditions is long overdue.”

Crucially, the committee accepted the principle of demanding that the government bring the pay, terms and conditions of prison education staff into line with the rest of the education sector.

However, to the disappointment of the union and some committee members, it did not identify the “marketisation” of prison education as the root of the problem, and rejected UCU’s plan for concrete action to implement a standard national contract and to improve salaries.