Compensation payments to teachers reach new high

According to The National Union of Teachers (NUT), compensation payments to teachers due to accidents and pupil attacks have hit an all-time high. The NUT said its members were awarded £2m in 2004, with Union officials blaming dilapidated buildings for some of the teachers' injuries, along with rising levels of bad behaviour among pupils.

Rising bad behaviour
The chief schools inspector has also recently warned that discipline is getting worse. "A kettle of hot water was poured over a member in Newcastle-upon-Tyne by a pupil, which resulted in scalding to the left arm and left side of the chest," said the NUT report. "The member suffered post-traumatic shock disorder. After a while, the member returned to work but not to her previous position."

In east London, a teacher suffered serious leg injuries after she was attacked by a pupil, and another was left with head injuries after an attack by a parent. "Whilst the majority of awards are below £10,000, several cases resulted in high awards, up to £232, 000," said the NUT.

Rising compensation payments
The NUT blames dilapidated school buildings for many of the accidents.

One teacher was compensated £135,237 posthumously after she was exposed to asbestos dust at school and died from cancer.

Graham Clayton, NUT senior solicitor, said: "The volume of these cases is still something of a reflection of the state of school buildings."We have still to look forward to making an improvement in the accident figures."

Total pay-outs could rise to £6m as other claims are settled thanks to the court precedents from the 200 completed cases last year, he added.

But the Department for Education and Skills said there was no evidence to suggest compensation payments to teachers were at record levels. "We are spending record amounts to upgrade school buildings and replace temporary buildings," a spokeswoman said. "After decades of chronic underfunding we have increased spending on school buildings from £683m in 1997 to £6.3bn in the period 2007-08 - a massive six-fold increase in real terms."

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Source: http://www.nut.org.uk