Cost of making teachers redundant rises by 400%

The cost of making teachers redundant has increased by 400% over the last three years.

The figure was revealed in a <link> <caption>response to a question</caption> <altText>Question and answer</altText> <url href="http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/questions/printquestionsummary.aspx?docid=138752" platform="highweb"/> </link> from DUP education spokesman Mervyn Storey.

In three years, the cost to the taxpayer of voluntary and compulsory teacher redundancies has risen from £3.5m to more than £14m.

One reason for the rising cost is believed to be an increase in the severance offer to teachers.

In order to encourage more staff to voluntarily leave their jobs, the amount they get has already been doubled from 30 to 60 weeks pay.

That will go up to 90 weeks compensation in the next financial year.

This year, the number who've taken redundancy has increased from just over 200 to 365.