Watchdog denies ‘MoTs in schools’

THE body that regulates Scotland’s teachers has outlined plans to improve standards within the profession, but has denied the move is an attempt to “weed out” anyone using “MoTs”.

Releasing plans for its “professional update” scheme, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) said the process could involve annual and five-yearly check-ups, which would confirm whether a teacher had maintained the necessary skills and understanding to do the job.

But Scotland’s largest teaching trade union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, said it would “utterly reject” any attempt to introduce a reaccreditation system for the profession.

GTCS chief executive Anthony Finn said: “Professional update is a positive development. It is not a mechanism to test teachers; it is not an MoT; and it does not aim to ‘weed out’ supposedly bad teachers.