31st December 2014 1:00
By Blue Tutors
The education secretary and schools minister have launched a consultation looking into setting up a college of teaching. The college would be supported by ministers but be a separately managed professional body for teachers, designed to raise the standards of the profession. The education secretary said that more needed to be done to raise the status of teaching, such that it is looked upon in the same way was medicine and law. The government noted that teaching is one of the very few professions where there is no professional organisation to which members of the profession can belong.
The consultation on the college is seeking to find out how such an organisation might be set up and managed. The government has been clear that the government would not seek to control the new college, but would support efforts to create one for teachers in the UK. In a statement, the coalition said that the college would set high standards for their members, and take the lead in improving standards in the profession. They also noted that there have been few avenues available to qualified teachers to enhance their skills and qualifications, and that the college would open up the possibility of further professional qualifications.
The proposal has been supported by the National Association of Head Teachers, who said that the teaching profession needed to take control of its own destiny in the UK. In a statement, they said that they were excited by the opportunity to build an institution that would have longevity, and stick to its core values regardless of political educational vogues. Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has warned that the coalition government has permitted thousands of unqualified teachers to work in classrooms, and noted that the creation of a professional body could be a stepping stone for raising standards in the classroom.