Teachers reject appraisal system

Delegates at the National Union of Teachers annual conference today voted to boycott the Government's method of appraising teachers.

On the last day of the conference in Cardiff, left-wing delegates managed to get union policy changed after having suffered two heavy defeats earlier during the conference.

Delegates had twice failed to get the conference to agree to re-start industrial action over teacher shortages after the campaign was put on hold for talks on workload and pay with the Government and local authorities.

But the conference voted today by a 24,324 majority to boycott the Government's method of appraising teachers - the union's leaders had merely wanted to keep the issue under review.

The vote - with 112,203 for and 87,879 against a boycott - could gum up the works of the Government's performance-related pay scheme, which this year was due to see more than 150,000 teachers get a £2,000 salary rise.

NUT leaders had a close call yesterday when they defeated a demand for an open-ended commitment to industrial action, including strikes, by fewer than 4,000 votes.

Members voted 102,058 to 98,150 against a plan for "rolling industrial action up to and including strike action, and consideration of a ballot for a one-day strike".

NUT general secretary Doug McAvoy said he had expected to lose that vote but added that there had been a "shift" in the mood of the conference towards the left-wing's stance this year.

The union has unanimously backed a joint motion demanding a 35-hour week which was drafted with the other classroom teacher associations in England and Wales.

They unions could all ballot in the autumn for industrial action to impose the 35-hour limit without the Government's consent.

Mr McAvoy indicated that this was the reason for the change in atmosphere.

"There is a recognition that dialogue and

consultation is the way forward, particularly if it can be undertaken with the other teacher organisations," he said.

But he added: "If we come back in a year's time and the exercise has proven to be of no value, we cannot expect conference to adopt the same kind of approach for the second year."

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