Members of school leaders’ union NAHT, which represents leaders in every school on the Isle of Man, have today voted to accept a revised pay offer from the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC).

The ballot, which opened last Friday (6th May) and closed at noon today (Fri 13th May), asked school leaders ‘Do you wish to accept the May 2022 full and final offer from DESC?’  A majority of 91% voted to accept the pay deal.

The accepted offer includes the interdiction of a new pay scale and weighting that reflects the IOM unique conditions and will be backdated to the 1st of September 2021, with lecturers’ pay now to be aligned with teachers. The offer also contains a commitment to a number of initiatives to improve the terms and conditions of education professionals and the introduction of up to twenty cover supervisors to work across all phases in schools, with a pledge made to start this recruitment immediately. Additionally, the offer ensures that pay talks for 2022/23 will commence immediately.

Rob Kelsall, NAHT National Secretary, said: “It’s been a long-process of negotiation and I am really pleased that our members have now reached an accord with the Department. Our members are hard-working professionals and deserve to be recognised as such. It’s welcome news that the DESC will now backdate pay as well as begin work on recruiting an additional twenty new cover supervisors. It will be a huge boost for our members who can continue to remain focussed on delivering improved educational outcomes for children and young people on the Isle of Man.”

A previous offer made in January was rejected by a ballot of serving NAHT members on the Isle of Man by 55-45%. NAHT subsequently requested a reopening of negotiations in light of the decision by members, which resulted in further talks and today’s accepted offer.