Scottish teachers to face checks on skills

Published on Thursday 25 February 2010 21:45

TEACHERS must be regularly assessed throughout their careers to check they are still competent in the classroom, the Scottish Government has ordered.

• The teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland is concerned that re-accreditation as part of the shake-up could add extra stress and bureaucracy to an already overburdened profession. Picture: TSPL

Schools minister Keith Brown has told the profession's regulator, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), to establish a system of "re-accreditation" to ensure all teachers maintain standards throughout their careers.

The move was announced as part of a major shake-up of the GTCS, which will establish it as a self-regulating professional body.

While local authorities have their own checks in place, there is currently no nationwide system for assessing teachers once they have qualified.

The GTCS can remove teachers from its register only if they are proved to be failing in their job – a power that is rarely used. Yesterday, a primary school teacher became only the second in Scotland to be struck off for incompetence.

Unions expressed concern last night that the changes could add an unwelcome extra layer of bureaucracy, while other education experts suggested the plans were long overdue.

Mr Brown said: "These changes will increase the effectiveness of the GTCS and locate it firmly in the heart of Scottish education – assuming full responsibility for teaching standards is a key part of this.

"I'm also asking the GTCS to gather views on and establish a system of teacher re-accreditation, to ensure all teachers keep their skills up to date as their careers develop and changes in education take place."

By the end of the year, the GTCS could also be given full control of setting the standard teachers have to reach before they are allowed into the classroom, if secondary legislation gets through parliament. Currently, universities carry a great deal of power, as they control much of the content of teaching qualifications.

Ronnie Smith, general secretary of Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, was sceptical about the changes.

"Scottish teachers are already some of the best-qualified in the world and are held to a particularly high set of standards of professionalism and conduct," he said.

"We would be particularly concerned that any future system of re-accreditation should not be overly bureaucratic.

"The GTCS already has a considerable number of statutory powers to ensure the highest standards of teacher professionalism, and it uses them to good effect. Potentially, adding a system of re-accreditation may add little, if anything, to this process."

Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, warned that the announcement could "terrify" her members.

"There's not nearly enough information, and that's going to terrify teachers," she said. "They need to know how it's going to work, how it's going to be funded and what it's going to mean.

"If, for example, a teacher being re-accredited is not sure how a computer works – and a lot of older teachers might be in that position – and all you need is a bit of in-service training to show them how to do computing, you can see that's going to work, but who's going to fund it? Local authorities, the GTC, the Scottish Government?"

The plans for reform were published following a Scottish Government consultation last year to examine the GTCS's future role.

Greg Dempster, general secretary of the Association of Heads and Deputes in Scotland, which represents primary head teachers,

said: "When we responded to the consultation, we were saying, no, we didn't think it was necessary, provided that there were proper mechanisms in place in local authorities.

"We felt that would be adequate to make sure teachers who weren't appropriately performing were dealt with."

GTCS chief executive Anthony Finn sought to reassure teachers. He said: "Any work that might be done in the future to introduce re-accreditation should serve to confirm the already high standard of teaching in schools in Scotland and to support teachers in updating their professional skills in an environment in which change is now constant.

"It is, therefore, anticipated that any future developments in Scotland would not follow the style and requirements of relicensing recently announced in England."

Those English proposals, under which each teacher will need to undergo assessment successfully to remain in the classroom, have sparked anger.

But the re-accreditation system for Scotland seems more popular.

The former Labour education minister, Sam Galbraith, has long supported such a move. He said teachers should be subject to a system similar to the one faced by doctors under the General Medical Council.

He said: "I'm amazed it doesn't happen already. At the very least, it should be done every five years, and, depending on the result of that, people shouldn't automatically be struck off, but it might result in retraining, a period of suspension or removal – we should certainly have these options."

Labour education spokesman Des McNulty said: "If re-accreditation is to win consent and support of teachers and parents, then it needs to be very clear that is it a way of taking standards forward, rather than being a stick to beat people with."

Conservative schools spokeswoman Elizabeth Smith, who is still registered as a teacher, said she would be happy to undergo any re-accreditation.

She said: "All teachers should be happy to go through that process. GTCS registration to me, as a teacher, means you are meeting a professional standard."

HOW OTHER PROFESSIONS WORK

THERE are several professions in Scotland which have ongoing systems to ensure standards are maintained throughout a person's career.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has recently introduced a new licence to practise. This will now be necessary, along with registration with the GMC to practise medicine.

From next year, doctors will need to "revalidate" that licence every five years.

That will be done by collecting a folder of information about their practice.

It will include, for example, information about appraisals by line managers, ongoing medical training while working, any audit information and patient and colleague feedback.

Lawyers similarly must prove they are up to standard.

In Scotland, those in the profession must be members of the Law Society of Scotland, the governing body for solicitors. And they must also hold a current practising certificate, issued by the society, which has to be renewed annually.

Many medical professions are subject to registration and ongoing regulation. More than 205,000 professionals from 14 sectors, including paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists and radiographers, must regularly prove their competency with the Health Professions Council.

Nurses must also undergo regular competency tests with the nursing regulator.

Teachers in England from next year will have to undergo a system of relicensing to continue in classrooms.

As well as being registered with the teaching council for England and Wales, they will need to undergo assessment every five years to ensure they are maintaining standards in the classrooms and have up-to-date skills.

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