DISRUPTION to A-level examinations at Harlow College was kept to a minimum last week, despite a two-day lecturers' strike over pay.

Members of the lecturers' union NATFHE, which represents lecturers, researchers and managers in further and higher education in the UK, went on strike on Tuesday, May 28, and Wednesday, May 29, to protest about a 1.5 per cent pay offer from the Association of Colleges.

The Harlow strike was part of a national campaign aimed at closing the pay gap between college lecturers and school teachers, and to demand a substantial pay increase for college staff.

But despite the industrial action, the college remained open and all exams continued as normal.

A NATFHE spokesman said: "College lecturers and managers are at the centre of Government plans for raising skills and increasing entry to higher education. We've seen our school teacher colleagues' pay justifiably jump forward.

"Most further education lecturers are stuck on low pay with little chance to progress. Some lecturers earn as little as £15,000. Is that what the education we provide is worth?

"Lecturers do not take strike action lightly. The last thing we want to do is harm the students we teach. At the end of the day, they will get a better deal if they are taught by lecturers who are motivated and valued and if colleges can recruit and retain the quality staff they need."

June 11, 2002 17:30