NO to Licence to practise - Support teacher professionalism

The government plans to require teachers to be re-licensed every five years from September 2010.

As professionals, teachers should obviously be accountable. There is, however, no shortage of accountability measures against which teachers are judged. These include:

• Performance management
• Ofsted inspections
• Capability procedures
• School league tables
• Local authority interventions
• Performance-related pay.

In this context a licence to teach is unnecessary. There are far too many hoops for teachers to jump through already.

It is also bureaucratic and unworkable. Neither teachers nor headteachers want the additional burden of this proposal.

The government’s plans also fail to provide additional funding for teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD). The real issue the government should have addressed is how to guarantee a minimum annual funded entitlement for all teachers to receive regular, high quality CPD. Such an entitlement would protect teachers against any arbitrary allocation of CPD opportunities.

Please go to teachers.org.uk/nolicencetoteach and register your support for the professionalism of teachers. A paper copy of a ‘No to Licence to practise’ freepost postcard to Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, will be sent out with the November edition of The Teacher.

Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said:

“I ask every member of the union to fill in our postcard against the licence to practise or register your support online. Let’s send a very clear message to government that there should be no licence to practise.”