A place for the part‐timer in further education

There has traditionally always been a place for the amateur in our society — the amateur sportsman, the amateur actor or actress, the amateur gardener, and the amateur teacher. Nowadays, although you have to be a fully qualified teacher to work in schools, the amateur still retains a toehold in colleges of further and higher education, especially if he is professionally well‐qualified and is an evening class teacher. It is true that a few colleges employ only full‐time staff, but they are a tiny minority. Most colleges supplement their teaching strength by appointing part‐time teachers with business or industrial experience. In the present economic climate it could be argued that the chances of employment are slim, but this is by no means certain; adult evening students are expected to pay fairly substantial fees towards covering the cost of the class, and it is cheaper to appoint a part‐time rather than a full‐time teacher. A small to medium‐sized college could have a hundred or more part‐timers on its pay roll. Remuneration depends on the grade of the work, but ranges roughly between £3.50 and £5.50 an hour for most classes — a not ungenerous reward for what can be an absorbingly interesting job.