Rant !!!

A few years ago, some bright spark decided that all adult teachers should belong to the Institute for Learning.  It was obviously so that some consultants could make some money because there certainly wasn't anything in it for us teachers.  Then a couple of years later, another wit decided that adult teachers needed to be QTLS (Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills). I thought we all qualified once we completed our teaching training and were given our certificates (adult teachers have to be teaching when they do their teacher training).  So we all had to waste a lot of time again scanning in our qualifications and writing stupid little essays justifying our jobs!  And still there was nothing in it for us.  Until now anyone who worked in the public sector had the fees for this non-entity paid for us.  Now guess what...................yep you're right, we have all now got to pay our own annual membership fees of £68.  I quote '...IfL has been working towards a self-financing model that will work as well as possible for you as a member of IfL'.  It is not self-financing, us mugs have got to pay for it!  Again I quote '...IfL is independent of the government and has created opportunities for influencing a range of national policy and decision making.'  If it is independent, why is it compulsory for all adult teachers who want to teach to be members?  Again I reiterate, we get absolutely nothing out of this except the occasional glossy leaflet telling us how good they are at doing nothing!  So, if we are lucky enough not to be made redundant, we have a pay freeze for three years, face a pay cut as we will certainly have to pay a lot more in to our pension funds (which believe me certainly are not gold-plated as the press would have you believe) and to add insult to injury we have to throw £68 away just to keep our jobs, with absolutely no choice in the matter.  Oh and our pay is a lot lower than mainscale teachers, even though we have to be just as qualified.  But it's okay, because we are all in it together say the multi millionaires sitting around the table in Downing Street!  Okay, rant over!!!!!  Have a good weekend xxx