Figures released recently reveal that for the year ending June 2004 TSL Education Limited, the owner of the TES, generated an operating profit of 23 million on a turnover of just 56 million.
Paul Howells, CEO of Eteach.com ,TESí online rival , commented, íîTES is by far the biggest title within the TSL stable, carrying thousands of teacher job adverts each month and responsible for producing most of TSLís profits. Quite simply, school budgets are being squeezed unnecessarily to fund these newspaper profits when cheaper and better advertising alternatives exist on the Internet. Investors in TSLís parent company, News International, will be rubbing their hands but it is regrettable that UK pupils are missing out on extra resources that could have been provided from this pot.î
Howells continues ìMany Head teachers have switched teacher vacancy advertising from the TES to Internet recruitment advertising to take advantage of the speed, efficiency and cost savings of about 60% that online alternatives offer over printed media. However, ëold habits die hardí in some schools and as a result around 22 million a year still being wasted by advertising in the TES.î
íWhile over 80,000* teacher vacancy adverts appeared online last term, we estimate that around 50,000** job adverts were still placed in the TES at a cost of approximately 300 each. Online adverts are 60% or so less than newspaper advertising. The online route can also drastically reduce the time it takes to recruit a teacher. However it is the hidden cost of paperwork, postage and management time wasted on old-fashioned, paper driven recruitment methods that may be costing schools even more.
íI urge LEAs , ministers and Governors to review school recruitment procedures and expenditure now. The relationship between some schools and paper publications developed when there was no viable alternative to the newspaper advert. Over the last five years, usage of the Internet, email alerts and e-newsletters has soared and even publishers have tried to develop their own Internet offerings.î
Howells concludes, ìTeachers have been quick to embrace the convenience of the Internet - using it to search and apply for posts free, at times which suit them. Our site alone has seen an increase in teacher visitors of over 75% in the last year, reaching 270,000 members in May this year. Hopefully more schools and LEAs will join them shortly, save on their recruitment costs and put more of their budgets towards directly benefiting pupils.î
Schools could save 22m by switching to online recruitment
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