Headteachers from Southend have voiced their fears over staff shortages in south Essex.

New figures show Southend has almost double the teacher shortage rate than the rest of Essex and more than three times that of parts of London.

Although Essex has the largest secondary teacher shortage in Britain with a 1.5 per cent vacancy rate in January 2000, the percentage of vacancies stood at 2.8 per cent in Southend over the same period.

It was also feared the problem will only get worse if teachers in the capital are paid London weighting on top of their salaries, which could prompt a mass exodus to the capital.

Bob Hellen, headteacher of Cecil Jones High School, in Eastern Avenue, Southend, said: "Fortunately we are fully staffed at the moment and I am very pleased with the quality of our staff, but we have to wonder what will happen in September, and the September after that.

"The whole concept of London weighting is nonsense because it is just as expensive to live in Southend as it is in London."

Andrew Baker, headteacher of Westcliff High School for Boys in Kenilworth Gardens, Westcliff, and leader of the Southend Secondary Heads Association, said: "I think there is a recruitment problem in Southend and although we have managed to fill our vacancies I know that some of my colleagues at other schools have experienced difficulties."

By James Howell

Reporter's e-mail: james.howell@notes.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.