Heads have the power to direct staff to cover shortages but doing so might provoke an escalation of the dispute in schools. The National Association of Head Teachers has offered support to its members who instruct staff to cover shortages or accept extra pupils. Advice to members states they are entitled to the full support of governors and councils if they think teachers are in breach of their contract. We have sympathy for staff. Taking on someone else's work is quite significant.
Unions aim to keep shortages in the public eye in the hope of a better pay deal.
The School Teachers' Review Body is set to recommend this year's pay rise for teachers soon. The signs are that ministers will try to tackle the problem by giving most of a Pounds 600 million package to young teachers and those in London. This could mean starting salaries in the capital top 20,000 for the first time. But recruitment expert John Howson, a visiting professor at Oxford Brookes University, has warned shortages will worsen. He said ministers are set to miss their recruitment target again in the secondary sector.