Teacher redundancies - concerns remain

A teaching union representative says there are still concerns about potential teacher redundancies in the Isle of Man, despite reassurances from Education Minister Anne Craine that they would only be a last resort.

Andrew Shipley of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers says he doesn't think there's a general realisation of the type of cuts headteachers are having to make, in order to try and balance their budgets in the face of significantly reduced funding.

He had hoped heads would be given the opportunity to wait until next year to implement cuts, but says it doesn't look as if that will be happening.

Mr Shipley says cutbacks could be made in purchases of text books or materials, or in the number of teachers employed: