A school leaders’ union has rejected an offer of a 2% pay rise from the government and labelled it a ’slap in the face’.

Members of the National Association of Head Teachers voted against the offer in a secret ballot on February 3.

Of those taking part, 55% voted against the pay offer.

It has written to the education minister Julie Edge and chief executive officer Graham Kinrade calling for negotiations on pay to be reopened.

The secret ballot followed a meeting in the week prior in which NAHT members, who represent every school in the island, discussed the offer that had been made following negotiations with the Department of Education, Sport and Culture.

Teachers in England were offered a pay freeze in 2021-22 by the UK Secretary of State.

An agreement by the DESC in 2020 dictates that pay increases for teachers in the island are linked to those in England but it can reopen negotiations in any year where the average pay increase agreed was 0.5% below Manx inflation.

Rob Kelsall, national secretary for NAHT, felt the offer wasn’t enough.

He said: ’The failure of the Westminster government to provide an increase in teachers’ pay for the forthcoming year is a slap in the face to those who have kept our schools open during the pandemic.

’Members have said in a clear, united voice that they want to see a fair settlement.

’The offer from DESC fell well below our original claim for investment into the profession and doesn’t address the immediate and unprecedented workload demands that has been placed on teachers as a result of the ongoing global pandemic.

’The future of the Isle of Man’s economy lies with the quality of our education system and the level of investment in those who lead schools and teach our children.

’Education is an investment, not only in our children’s life chances, but in the island’s future. We hope to reopen negotiations with the government and that the DESC can secure additional investment from the Treasury to invest in the Isle of Man’s future.’

This comes as people’s disposable incomes are being hit hard due to the rate of inflation rising.

The figure for December 2021 stood at 6%, a 1.4% increase from November. The rate of inflation in the UK is currently 5.1%, as measured by the consumer price index.

It also follows teachers’ union NASUWT revealing more than three quarters of teachers in the island said their job had an adverse impact on their mental health in the past year.

Of the teachers who responded to a survey conducted by NASUWT, 88% said their workload has increased over the last 12 months.

The biggest drivers of the increased workload included cover and non-teaching activities, such as administrative tasks, meetings and record keeping.

More than half of secondary school teachers were covering lessons for absent colleagues at least once a week and two thirds said the amount of cover they were being asked to do had increased in the last year.

In November 2020, the NAHT agreed a pay deal after a long-running dispute with the DHSC.

A damning independent review of the DESC at the end of September that year revealed cultural issues were the root cause of the fractured relationship between the department and schools and a new chief executive was appointed.