Once you've had the car serviced, got the solictor to write a letter, the accountant to do your tax return and paid the plumber - you'd be a bit concerned to see the well qualified professional who has your life in his hands only on £8 per hour!
Welcome to the world of crap pay!
Whilst not trying to dumb down the value of instructors or imply that they are not worth paying more, I would just point out that it happens with other occupations too.
I have a Bsc in Agriculture, have 25 years experience and now earn the head popping sum of around £25k per year! Yep I get a nice house with the job and a free airstrip, but then I manage the place! If I break it down into hours, I actually earn less than £5/hr! I'm not alone, look at jobs such as lab technicians ... they need a degree to qualify and I've never seen their jobs advertised for more than about £15k! Like I say, not trying to make out that instructors aren't undervalued ... but I get a bit fed up with the kind of talk that sets them apart as unique in this respect.
SS