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Mr. Byers: If the hon. Lady waits a week, she will see that the proposals contained in our consultation document differ substantially from the model of the General Teaching Council in Scotland. We shall establish such a council as one of our steps towards elevating teaching as a valued profession.
To address the problem of classroom teachers being promoted out of the classroom, the best teachers must be rewarded for staying in the classroom and not escaping from it. That is why we intend to introduce a new career grade--advanced skills teacher. Such teachers will not only provide high-quality teaching in their own school, but play a key role in raising standards, by supporting
trainee teachers and those who are newly qualified and going through their induction year. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will shortly write to the School Teachers Review Body, asking it to consider how the new advanced skills teacher grade should be introduced.
Although the majority of teachers do a good job, teaching--like any other profession--includes a number of individuals who are not up to the job. Teachers who are failing to deliver must be identified. Hon. Members will know that, earlier this week, Ofsted announced that it intended to adopt a new method of grading teachers, with the present seven-grade system being replaced by one with only three grades. We believe that that change will be helpful, although, as it will be based on limited observation, it clearly has its limitations. We believe that the lead responsibility for identifying underperforming teachers must rest with the head teacher--that is the role of a head teacher who provides leadership in a school. The prime responsibility for identifying underperforming teachers does not rest with Ofsted.
We want a fair and robust regime that recognises success in the classroom, but will also act on failure. That is the hallmark of a profession that sets a premium on standards. In the minority of cases, where teachers are accused of incompetence, they must be given a chance to improve, including training where appropriate. If improvement does not occur, they must be removed from the classroom, to avoid any further damage to their pupils' education.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham):
It is clear what the White Paper says, although it is not especially encouraging to read its contents. Will the Minister tell the House what time scale ideally he envisages between the identification of a failed teacher and his or her removal from the classroom?
Mr. Byers:
I am coming to that point shortly. To achieve a system whereby we can remove the failing teacher from the classroom, we need speedy but fair procedures. That is clearly not the case under the present arrangements, whereby there are at least five separate stages before a teacher can be removed from the classroom. The procedure starts with an informal warning; there is then a formal oral warning, a written warning, a disciplinary hearing and then a final appeal. On average, the process takes 18 months. That is unacceptable. It is understandable that heads and governing bodies are often reluctant to embark on such a complex and time-consuming process. It simply has to change.
The hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) will be interested to learn that, earlier this week, I wrote to the national employers, asking them to establish a working group comprising themselves, the teaching unions and governors under the chairmanship of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, to identify a new procedure for dealing with incompetent teachers--one that is simple and fair and that can be completed within six months.
Mr. Willis:
There is a great deal of concern among head teachers about those proposals. Heads object to the fact that the chief inspector of schools is to be required to tell them which of their teachers are failing. It is a failing
There is a real problem in this respect. In many years' experience, I have had to deal with only a few failing teachers, and I am glad that the Minister recognises that most do a good job. However, in all those cases, the teacher went sick with a stress-related illness and ended up with an enhanced early-retirement package on health grounds. That is a source of great concern both to myself as a head teacher and to the rest of the teaching profession. Does the Minister propose to deal with that loophole as well?
Mr. Byers:
The hon. Gentleman has long personal experience as head of a successful comprehensive in Leeds, and has identified a number of issues that I expect the working group to tackle. I have written to the employers about setting up that group. ACAS will chair it. I want the procedure for incompetent teachers to be completed within six months, and I have asked the group to report by 7 October.
I have also asked the group to consider a new category of gross incompetence, to which special fast-track procedures would apply. For example, it would apply if a teacher were unable to control a class of schoolchildren. Grossly incompetent teachers should be removed from the classroom and should have their case dealt with within weeks rather than months. A grossly incompetent pilot would not be allowed to remain in the cockpit of an aeroplane, and a grossly incompetent surgeon would not be allowed to remain in the operating theatre. Teachers should not be treated differently. A grossly incompetent teacher should not be allowed to remain in the classroom, adversely affecting the life chances of the children for whom he or she has responsibility.
We will, however, give support as well. Teachers need support, especially in their first year of teaching. We shall, therefore, introduce an induction year, which will provide structured support during that all-important first year of teaching. Schools will be expected to provide a planned induction programme, with guidance from the Teacher Training Agency. There is a case for confirming qualified teacher status only after the successful completion of the induction year.
Mrs. Angela Browning (Tiverton and Honiton):
As the Minister of State said, the Prime Minister has often claimed that education is the Government's top priority.
Ministers present the White Paper as heralding a new dawn in the country's education system. It seems a little strange, therefore, that the Government have chosen a Friday morning to debate their educational vision expressed in the White Paper. Friday is hardly the prime time in the parliamentary timetable. One would have hoped that it would merit a little more attention from the Government.
On school standards, there is much in the White Paper that we support. There is much in it that is familiar--very familiar--and which bears remarkable similarity to the policies that we have pursued and developed for the past 10 years, often in the face of bitter opposition from Labour Members, who frequently trotted through the No Lobby when those matters were before the House.
We particularly support the commitment in the White Paper to baseline assessments for all children starting in primary school and we welcome the proposals to extend Ofsted's powers of inspection to local education authorities and to reduce the period of notice that it gives schools for inspections. We welcome the extension of local management of schools. Indeed, we promised that in our manifesto. We also welcome the proposal to establish a professional headship qualification.
Of course, we back the Government's intention to make it easier to remove bad teachers. I was encouraged to hear the Minister start to spell out the details of that proposal. On first reading of the White Paper, it looks as though it could mean being stuck in arbitration for many months. I hope that he will resolve that problem.
We also welcome the commitment in the White Paper to our initiative for a core curriculum for teacher training colleges to ensure that teachers receive rigorous training. We planned for that to be introduced from this September and we are concerned that the Government would rather wait another year. That is wrong.
The fact that much of the language and content of the White Paper on educational standards can be welcomed by the Conservative Opposition is a sign of the sheer distance that the Labour party has travelled on education. The White Paper's embracing of testing, the national curriculum, the merits of Ofsted and the schools performance tables demonstrates that it is the mother of all U-turns, but we welcome it.
There are aspects of the White Paper that we do not welcome, however, and I shall spell them out. I hope that that will give the Under-Secretary the opportunity to put a little more detail behind some of the proposals when she replies. While "Excellence in schools" may contain some positive measures on improving standards, the real meat and substance would have the opposite effect.
At the heart of the White Paper and the Government's policies, lies a deep contradiction that should give cause for concern for schools, teachers, parents and hon. Members. The Government miss the point entirely when they claim that standards matter more than structures. The two go hand in hand. By making schools responsive to the wishes of parents and allowing professional teachers to chart the course of their schools, standards rise.
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