‘Unskilled staff’ Taking Lessons
Teachers now get half a day per week out of lessons for paperwork. A teachers’ union that backs the government’s school workforce changes in England and Wales is warning they can dilute the quality of education.
Unqualified assistants were teaching exam classes in subjects they knew nothing about, teachers at the NASUWT annual conference, in Belfast, said.
At the NASUWT conference Austin Murphy from Leeds said the problem of unqualified staff was far greater than many people realised. “Cover supervisors will take over the whole timetable of an absent teacher, including A-level classes, for an entire term,” he said. “I do know of a school in south Leeds where a cover supervisor was asked to take on this role for maternity leave. They did GCSE and A-level classes. “This person has no experience whatsoever in that subject.”Clearly this is an absolute scandal. It should be known that this is happening.” There was no immediate reaction from the Department for Education and Skills. (BC Online)
