Responding to news today (Friday) that the education select committee
is launching an inquiry into value for money at
universities, the University and College Union (UCU) said the
time had come to look at pay levels and the widespread use of
exploitative and insecure contracts.
The union said it would be making a submission ahead of the
23 October deadline and that students and their parents had a
right to know if lecturers were secure in their employment, as it
does impact on the quality of teaching they can deliver. The
union said there is now a large body of
research in the US, compiled over a 20-year period,
which shows casualisation has a clear impact on teaching
quality.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘We welcome the
education committee’s inquiry into value for money in education.
Our submission will highlight both the huge disparity in staff
and senior pay and also the shockingly high number of lecturers
forced onto casual and zero-hours contracts.
‘It cannot be right that the people teaching our students
are constantly anxious, not knowing from term-to-term, or even
week-to-week, whether they will have a job or how much they might
earn. We believe students and their parents have a right to know
if their lecturers have access to office space at the university
or are secure in their employment, as this has a real impact on
the quality of education those teachers are able to
deliver.’
More than two-fifths (42%) of staff on casual contracts,
such as controversial zero-hours contracts, in universities and
colleges have struggled to pay household bills, according
to UCU research. Over a
third (35%) reported that they struggled to meet rent or mortgage
demands and an alarming one in five (21%) said that they
struggled to put food on the table.
