REMEMBER a while ago, when it was first suggested that some secondary head teachers could be paid six-figure salaries, in recognition of the size of the task they were taking on?

There was outrage in some quarters, disbelief even that school heads could really be worth so much.

Yet fast forward a few years to today, and think how many recalcitrant teenagers have come and gone in the intervening period, of the difficulties that so many heads must have even just keeping a lid on the simmering tensions in their classrooms.

Who now could doubt that some heads do indeed earn every penny of their bulging pay packets?

Yet the surprise, as we report today, is that, even with such lucrative deals awaiting successful applicants, it is becoming more and more difficult for Merseyside authorities to recruit the heads that they need.

Six out of 16 vacancies in Liverpool had to be re-advertised; similarly, almost half the vacancies in Sefton had to be advertised twice, to find the right person for the job.

Some have branded the head’s position as an “impossible job”, and we can only applaud those people on Merseyside who have succeeded in positions that deter all but the hardiest candidates. Maybe the Government needs to back off slightly, if the situation is not to deteriorate even further.

Every new league table, every new educational initiative, every new budget constraint, conspires to bring extra pressure bearing down on the head. There is no doubt they earn their money – but must they be forced to endure an all but intolerable burden in order to qualify for it?