Government announces abolition of the General Teaching Council for England
The General Teaching Council for England (GTCE), the disciplinary body for teachers, is to be abolished, the Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced.
Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Michael Gove said that the body “did not earn its keep” and that he would be introducing legislation in the Autumn to abolish it. He did not, however, outline what alternative arrangements would be put into place to replace its functions, if any. No announcement was made as to the future of the GTCE's equivalent bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which are the responsibility of their respective devolved administrations.
He said: “Since I have been shadowing education and more recently held the brief in government, there has been one organisation of whose purpose and benefit to teachers I am deeply sceptical - the General Teaching Council for England.
“I believe this organisation does little to raise teaching standards or professionalism. Instead it simply acts as a further layer of bureaucracy while taking money away from teachers. I want there to be stronger and clearer arrangements in relation to teacher misconduct and I am not convinced the GTCE is the right organisation to take these forward.”
The GTCE said that it would take legal advice on the minister's statement and said that it would be seeking urgent clarification from the Department for Education on the implications of the announcement for its work over the next period and for its staff and Members.
However, the GTC's abolition was welcomed by teachers' unions. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, told the BBC: "I have frequently said that if the GTCE was abolished tomorrow, few would notice and even less would care. Too much time, energy and resource has been frittered away on pursuing projects and issues which duplicated the work of other bodies and did little or nothing to enhance the status of the profession."
The GTCE was established by the previous government with remit to develop and maintain professional standards for the teaching profession and keep a register of qualified teachers in England. It also provides policy advice to government and other agencies.
The GTCE is the third educational quango to be axed since Michael Gove became Education Secretary last month, the others being the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency and the schools technology agency BECTA.
