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Teachers' unions demand qualified status for staff | Teachers' unions demand qualified status for staff |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Teachers' unions are demanding that schools in England should only employ fully-qualified teachers. | Teachers' unions are demanding that schools in England should only employ fully-qualified teachers. |
The National Union of Teachers' conference has voted against schools using teachers who do not have formal teaching qualifications. | |
The NASUWT conference has also warned that allowing unqualified teachers is an "attack on professional status". | |
But a Department for Education spokeswoman said: "It is entirely up to head teachers who they employ." | But a Department for Education spokeswoman said: "It is entirely up to head teachers who they employ." |
A survey among NASUWT members earlier found that 53% had worked alongside unqualified teachers. | |
Speaking at the NUT conference in Brighton, Agnes Bishop, a teacher from Essex, said: "We condemn those responsible for attempting to de-professionalise teaching." | |
Defining 'teacher' | |
The conference voted to call on whichever party forms the next government to bring forward legislation to ensure that every child is taught by a qualified teacher. | |
The union also wants a regulatory definition of who can be described as a teacher. | |
NUT general secretary Christine Blower gave her own definition of a teacher: "A teacher is someone who has patience, enthusiasm, subject knowledge and pedagogy. A teacher has a degree and a teaching qualification. " | |
The government said state schools should have the same flexibility as independent schools to bring "great linguists, computer scientists, engineers and other specialists into the classroom". | |
But the teachers' unions have attacked this as a "cheap alternative" that threatens standards. | |
The NASUWT conference has heard claims that using unqualified staff is a cost-cutting measure. | |
A survey of more than 7,000 members found that almost two-thirds thought schools were increasingly likely to opt for hiring less expensive, unqualified staff. | A survey of more than 7,000 members found that almost two-thirds thought schools were increasingly likely to opt for hiring less expensive, unqualified staff. |
"Our children and young people have been robbed of a fundamental entitlement to be taught by qualified teachers," said the union's general secretary, Chris Keates. | "Our children and young people have been robbed of a fundamental entitlement to be taught by qualified teachers," said the union's general secretary, Chris Keates. |
"The decision to remove qualified teacher status had nothing to do with raising standards and everything to do with reducing costs, depressing teachers' pay and feeding the free market." | "The decision to remove qualified teacher status had nothing to do with raising standards and everything to do with reducing costs, depressing teachers' pay and feeding the free market." |
The National Union of Teachers, meeting for its conference in Brighton, has commissioned a survey of parents which it says shows widespread support for requiring teachers to have teaching qualifications. | The National Union of Teachers, meeting for its conference in Brighton, has commissioned a survey of parents which it says shows widespread support for requiring teachers to have teaching qualifications. |
The survey found 82% of more than 1,500 parents believed schools should only employ qualified teachers. | The survey found 82% of more than 1,500 parents believed schools should only employ qualified teachers. |
'Getting right mix' | 'Getting right mix' |
The Labour Party has promised to make qualified teacher status a requirement for permanent teaching staff in state schools - and the shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt delivered this message at the NASUWT conference on Saturday. | |
But Robert Wilne, the head of the London Academy of Excellence, which is an A-level sixth form in east London, said he thought employing unqualified teachers was sometimes the best option. | But Robert Wilne, the head of the London Academy of Excellence, which is an A-level sixth form in east London, said he thought employing unqualified teachers was sometimes the best option. |
He said: "Certainly head teachers like myself will want to make sure they bring into school the intellectual skills, perhaps the life-experience skills that will make a rich and diverse and valuable body of teachers to really enhance education of the young people. | He said: "Certainly head teachers like myself will want to make sure they bring into school the intellectual skills, perhaps the life-experience skills that will make a rich and diverse and valuable body of teachers to really enhance education of the young people. |
"Now sometimes, that means you will want to bring somebody in who has got those fantastic skills, and experience, but they're not yet qualified." | "Now sometimes, that means you will want to bring somebody in who has got those fantastic skills, and experience, but they're not yet qualified." |
The Department for Education said there were now fewer teachers without qualified teacher status than there were in 2010 - and that head teachers should be trusted in "getting the mix right for the pupils they know best". | The Department for Education said there were now fewer teachers without qualified teacher status than there were in 2010 - and that head teachers should be trusted in "getting the mix right for the pupils they know best". |
"Overall the quality of the teaching workforce is rising. A record 96% of all teachers now have degrees or above, meaning there are an extra 43,000 teachers with degree level qualifications in classrooms since 2010," said an education department spokeswoman. | "Overall the quality of the teaching workforce is rising. A record 96% of all teachers now have degrees or above, meaning there are an extra 43,000 teachers with degree level qualifications in classrooms since 2010," said an education department spokeswoman. |
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