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Teachers face MOT every five years to prove fitness to teachGovernment introduces new licence to teach amid widespread changes to English school system
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guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 June 2009 15.55 BST
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Teachers will have to undergo MOTs every five years to make sure they are fit to teach, under proposals announced today designed to weed out bad teachers.

The government is introducing a new "licence to teach", similar to the new system for doctors and solicitors, under which teachers will be assessed regularly by heads and face having their licences revoked if they are not up to scratch.

Ed Balls, the schools secretary, said: "It may be that we will discover some teachers who don't make the grade ... We want this to be a profession which is continually learning and developing, and that will be central to the licence.

"It's saying we want to ensure the best teachers in every classroom in every part of the country."

The plan is contained in a white paper published todayby Balls, setting out widespread changes to the English school system. It reveals new plans for one-to-one tuition for every child who is below the expected level at 11 – currently one in five of all pupils.

By the end of the first year of secondary school, these pupils will undergo a progress check to make sure the tuition is working and they are catching up.

The white paper reveals embryonic plans to overhaul the school funding system to redirect money to schools in the poorest areas of the country. It could mean that high-performing schools in well-off areas will face cuts as a result.

The white paper also:

• Sets out plans for a new report card judging every school on six factors: pupil progress, attainment and wellbeing, parental and pupil perceptions of the school, and how well schools are narrowing the achievement gap between rich and poor. Balls said he was "convinced" that the report card should include a single-grade verdict for every school.

• Gives parents guarantees of a place at school or college for their child until the age of 18, a promise of one-to-one tuition if their child is falling behind and a personal tutor throughout secondary school to give them pastoral support. The document promises that every 11- to 14-year-old will have "relevant and challenging" learning and that pupils who are judged to have particular talents will be given a written plan from their teachers of the extra support and challenges they will receive.

• Puts parents under new obligations to support their child at school. They will have to sign stricter home-school agreements and would face fines of up to £1,000, enforceable by the courts, if they fail to meet the conditions.

• Introduces a new wave of federations and chains of schools, where good headteachers are given control of more than one school to spread their expertise.

• Signals the end of the centrally controlled national strategies, which include the literacy and numeracy hours, to decrease Westminster control of schools and give headteachers more powers to drive up standards.

If schools are failing to meet the guarantees to families, parents can complain first to the school, then the local authority, and ultimately to the local government ombudsman, says the document, Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future. But headteachers have warned that such guarantees could ultimately see schools being challenged in the courts.

The plan for a new licence to teach will begin in September 2010, starting with newly qualified teachers, teachers who are returning to their jobs after a break from the profession and then supply teachers, before a national roll-out. If teachers disagree with a verdict, they can be given a temporary licence while appealing against the decision through a tribunal.

The scheme comes in response to concerns among heads that it is difficult to sack underperforming teachers.

Balls also announced new interventions in four local authorities – Milton Keynes, Leicester, Blackpool and Gloucester– because of "concerns" about education standards. Milton Keynes and Leicester face improvement plans, externally commissioned by the government.

Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, said: "Ed Balls has refused to give teachers the powers they need to deal with violence and disruption, such as removing the restrictions on teachers removing disruptive pupils. He rejected our plan to give teachers the power to search for banned items. He rejected our plan to let schools make parent contracts compulsory. His new gimmicks will not solve the deep problems we have with bad behaviour in schools."

Cant understand why anybody would want to be a teacher anyway (Or a social worker/policeman etc)

Chances are that these roles are increcingly being filled by people who cannot get jobs anywhere else!

not very good third year students say "I don't really know what I want to do so I am signing up for the Teacher Training Course"

Oh Cheers. Degree classification does not bear any relevance on how good a teacher you will be.

People with phds can be very bad.

As I always say to people with you type of attitude, come to my school and teach for week. I will plan the lessons, if you find that easy you can plan all 19 hours of lessons, plus paper work and run my department. because it easy cos only shite teaches.

There is unqualified staff teaching classes, we have 4.

How many people here actually liked school, or even learned much?

The trouble with education it is a political play thing ...... It would be nice if I could get on with my job with out the government poking it’s nose in.

I loved it. Got me out of the house for half the waking day. God, the idea of being stuck at home with the parents all day is appalling. And I learned all sorts of useful stuff.

It appals me the way that politicians try to micro manage the education process. They don't do this with any other profession that I can think of. I man politicians don't go round telling engineers what size bolts to use on a bridge, or surgeons what scalpel to use. So why tell teachers not to use "eye before eee except after cee" as a teaching aid.