Never started on the third point if the scale

conkerrigan

Could anyone inform me of the position I currently find myself; I started teaching in 2007 and have never been placed on the correct scale. At present the Teaching Council are assessing my qualifications. To date I have completed the following
A National Diploma 2yrs
A Higher National Diploma 2yrs
A BA Hons Degree 2yrs
H Dip In Education 1yr

All of which were full time; the lead up to my degree is rather different that the normal route but have done a total of 7 years in higher ed and university education.

Is there any reason why i should have not been placed on the third point of the scale straight away.

Did anyone have the same problems and how did you go about getting back pay

cheers

Con..............

all comments welcome

rainbowtrout

You'll have to give a bit more info. Did you hold all of those qualifications when you started teaching?

Why are the TC still assessing your qualifications?

conkerrigan

Hey rainbow trout

Ye I got all qualifications before I started teaching, but was not put on the correct scale; employers knew of my qualifications and when i asked about the correct scale they told me to get all my qualifications assessed by the teaching council; this has been a long drawn out process whereby all the modules studied, subjects covered, results etc etc so still do not know where i stand; especially with recouping all monies owed........

rainbowtrout

conkerrigan wrote: »

Hey rainbow trout

Ye I got all qualifications before I started teaching, but was not put on the correct scale; employers knew of my qualifications and when i asked about the correct scale they told me to get all my qualifications assessed by the teaching council; this has been a long drawn out process whereby all the modules studied, subjects covered, results etc etc so still do not know where i stand; especially with recouping all monies owed........

That sounds a bit odd. Why would they hire you if you didn't hold the proper qualifications? Not saying you don't, but if they're asking you to get TC recognition etc.

As far as I know, the scale works in the following way: if you have 4 years full time third level education (ie a degree) you start on Point 3 of the scale. Is it VEC or Dept?

conkerrigan

Thats exactly my problem i wasnt put on point 3 from day one i was just put on point 1; im VEC. The only thing I can see is that my degree wasnt exaclty your average 3-4 year course. I went through the 2 yrs HD, then 2yrs of HND, then to another 2yr finally to get my degree all in succession then returned to do my hdip then into teaching. The only thing is none of the institutes i went to are on the list of recognised courses list hence the assessments.

However nobody ever pointed this out to me only i looked into myself and consulted other colleagues....

Further Ed.

I would suggest that you contact your Union Rep and ask for their assistance once the Teaching Council deems your qualifications acceptable.

Godge

There is a list of degrees on the Teaching Council website which are automatically recognised for teaching various subjects.

If you are teaching a different subject or your degree is not on the list or (as in your case) you followed an unusual route, you may not fall into the standard categories and therefore your qualifications need to be assessed. This is something that has only arisen in the last few years and the Teaching Council don't seem to be the most efficient and fast organisation.

conkerrigan

Cheers Godge

This has been a long long process considering all my documentation had to come from 3 different universities all of which are in different locations i.e. UK, NI and here in Rep. Some of the universities have changed name and either changed the courses or discontinued them. All of these changes had to be put in headed paper by the universities and the changes in credits of all the modules I studied(seriously). The universities in NI and UK said it was a joke that the Teaching Council asks for all this info and what was worse is I have to pay the universities for all of the copies for info supplied near 50 euro between cheques and postage.....

Considering I have gone to extreme levels of detail; its just crazy to think after I supplied it; I now have to pay them to assess it (both subjects which is more money), considering Ive done all the donkey work.

Con.......

implausible

You've got to love the VECs, they're experts at passing the buck - happy enough to employ you but go the long red-tape way round to pay you. Your pay is nothing to do with the way you qualified and more to do with the lack of Teaching Council headed paper deeming you qualified. If it's not straight forward, they automatically start you on point 1. This has happened to a few teachers in my school as they qualified in England and the North. They had to go through the same rigmarole - get their results, get their qualifications assessed, pass the info onto the VEC and finally, get paid on the correct point of the scale!

The good news is you should get paid at the correct point and receive substantial back-pay once the TC recognise you. As Further Ed said, a bit of a push from the union, if there are any further issues or delay with back-pay, will be useful later on.

solerina

It must be frustrating to be on the wrong point, The upside will be that when the Teaching Council (total waste of space IMO) get your qualifications sorted out and recognised you will be intitled to a great deal of back pay !!!!!