Hi!

Above are photo's of the article insert that was in the Derby College student newspaper. I talked about this in my last update and how after I had left the College with a few copies, the insert was then taken out of each newspaper. Thankfully, I kept a copy for myself (call me sentimental) and so was able to make this update. The photos may be blurry as I suck at technology however, I have only provided them so you are able to see its layout. I'm afraid I do not have a digital copy so I will not be able to attach that. Despite so, I am going to write a word for word copy of the article down below for the vast majority who, unfortunately, did not get to see it. Here is the article written by the incredibly talented student, Lundy Flowerdew.

For years there have been funding cuts in our education system, but now it has become so severe that teachers have to decide between a job that pays well or one that they enjoy. The system neglects the amount of work they do for our community, the extra hours of work they do that go unpaid and the endless hours of work that it takes to teach the young generation of this country. As a student, I often hear members of staff complaining about their pay- or the lack thereof- which doesn't provide much inspiration for those considering a career in teaching, nor does it create the 'community spirit' Derby College endeavours to promote. I was ecstatic when I found out that a fellow student, Jaiya Verma, also feels outraged by this issue and has even been brave enough to take this social travesty to the public to demand a change.

Jaiya has created a petition for 'Fair pay for Teachers' and is hoping to provoke Derby College executives into rethinking the current pay freeze.

After getting closer to her teachers in her second year at Derby College, Jaiya discovered how "shockingly bad" the pay is for the teachers and that a couple of her teachers are having to find new jobs because of it. One such teacher lamented that, "after so many years, I have essentially been forced out because of the frozen increment and because this is accumulative, each year this becomes harder and harder to accept." Another reported that they were told at interview that their pay was 'incremental' but not that those increments had been frozen for the past few years.

After collecting other teachers' stories, Jaiya realised how unjust the current pay system is and that she couldn't stand by any longer and let the injustice continue. She told me that, "one evening I was just so fed up with the way things were that I just went for it and here we are." Jaiya's petition quickly went viral and made it to The Derby Evening Telegraph just two weeks after it was set up. However, not everyone was supportive of her case.

In a meeting with some of the head honchos of Derby College, where Jaiya highlighted the unfairness of teachers' pay by referring to statistical evidence comparing it to colleges of an equal size and status who honour their contractual promise to pay incrementally, Jaiya was effectively told that nothing would be done about the petition. Soon after the meeting, her posters started disappearing from the walls of the Joseph Wright Centre and her links were wiped off of all the classroom whiteboards.

Whats more, when she pointed out that teachers were practically being forced to leave Derby College in order to cope with the rise in living costs, the response was "we'll get new teachers."

Jaiya was downhearted but this has not stopped her. "It makes me so sad" she said, "because they really are great teachers and they're so good at what they do, and the fact that they're brilliant at their job and yet are paid unfairly is beyond me. For them not to get recognised for what they do... it breaks my heart... they're gems, they're absolute assets to our college. I'll keep coming back to hammer it home until they realise this too... I won't be giving up any time soon." 

Jaiya has said that she wants to become a teacher herself but this isn't the reason for her starting the petition, she isn't doing it to make her future brighter, she is doing it because "they are such beautiful human beings...amazing role models, and they deserve it. They've inspired me and i'll be lucky to be half as good as them when I'm a teacher myself." However, to make an impact, she needs as many signatures as she can get in order to get the college to take notice.

You can help Jaiya make a difference and bring about a positive change in our college system by signing the petition today using the web link at the top of the page. In the words of Jaiya, "they really do deserve recognition for what they do."

DISCLAIMER: The printing of the above article has in no way been approved/ endorsed by any of the teaching faculty at Derby College. As students of the college, we appreciate the freedom of speech that allows us to broadcast our opinions as so many of our fellow students have in poster art and advertisements on doors and announcement boards around the site. If any member of staff takes issue with the form of publication we use here, we would be happy to move copies of our article to these viewing positions available to us instead. I would remind opponents to the position we have taken of the comments that Mandie Stravino herself made in a Derby Telegraph article on the subject: "it is heartening that students evidently appreciate the quality of their teachers and support staff."

Since 'support of teachers and staff' is our goal, we are sure that Mrs Stravino would share equal support in our publication of this artefact and encourage our continued pursuit of fair pay. If any offence is taken, however, at the opinions we endorse here, all of the people involved in this publication are (by shocking coincidence) also writers at Joseph Writes News. For anyone wishing to make a complaint, we meet at Tuesday lunches in S14 and we will be taking quotes.

ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: Any passive aggression displayed in the above disclaimer was not the work of Lundy Flowerdew. Despite writing the article, Lundy did not put this flyer together and should bear no responsibility for any negative action taken as a result of this publication.