Commenting on the government’s consultation on
strengthening Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Malcolm Trobe,
Deputy General Secretary of the Association of School and College
Leaders, said:
“We welcome this consultation on strengthening QTS and the
proposals for a renewed focus on high-quality professional
development for existing teachers.
“We broadly agree with extending the period through which a
teacher gains full QTS to two years. This approach, together with
an enhanced support and development programme, can help to raise
the status of teaching as a profession and encourage more people
to become teachers.
“The consultation is right to identify that the development of
teachers does not stop when they have obtained QTS, and having
strong professional development throughout a teacher’s career is
one of the measures needed to help retain teachers in the
profession. But this must not be over-prescriptive as school
leaders are in the best position to recognise the needs of their
school and staff.
“These proposals – carefully managed and, most crucially, fully
funded – have the potential to go some way to addressing the
ongoing teacher recruitment and retention crisis. They can,
however, only be part of the solution. Issues such as teacher and
school leader workload, and the high-stakes nature of the
accountability regime, must also be addressed, as part of an
overarching strategy to ensure we have sufficient numbers of
high-quality teachers to educate and inspire young people.”
