A head teachers' organisation has claimed potential school principals are being attracted out of the teaching profession by higher paid jobs in other sectors.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has said principals’ salaries have fallen “significantly behind” those earned by staff in comparable jobs in the industrial and service sectors.

The situation is thought to be worse in Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK because of the number of small schools whose principals are relatively poorly paid.

An evaluation was carried out into the salaries of principals who run small, medium and large primary and secondary schools and compared with the salaries for similar management jobs in industry and the service sector and found an average shortfall of 14 per cent.

The survey claims that head teachers of medium-sized primary schools could earn £8,000 a year more in a comparable job in industry. The survey took into account the skills, knowledge and responsibility needed to head a school.

David Hart, General Secretary of the NAHT, said head teachers had one of the most responsible and accountable jobs in the public sector.

He added: “It is becoming more and more difficult to recruit heads. Too many are leaving the profession prematurely. This can hardly be a surprise when the government refuses to recognise the importance of the head's role in pay terms.

“Salaries are not the only motivating force for head teachers but if they are so demonstrably inadequate the current recruitment and retention problems will only get worse.”

Head teachers plan to use these figures to lobby in government in a bid to gain higher salaries. (AMcE)