Pupil panel proposal is a bad idea

Dear Editor

Perth and Kinross is having problems filling head teachers’ posts.

There are few applicants for vacancies, sometimes none at all, and in some cases posts have to be re-advertised because none of the applicants has been deemed suitable.

I am not surprised teachers are not falling over themselves seeking promotion to head teachers. There is so much stress involved just being a teacher in the classroom these days without seeking the extra stress in dealing directly with parents, the public, the inspectorate and the education authorities.

Teachers have only themselves to blame for the present situation because they have supported the warm welcome given by their own organisations over the years to measures such as extreme childcentred education, open classrooms, teaching all children in the same classes the same subjects at the same pace, the condemnation of almost any form of punishment, the paper-chase involved in almost any aspect of teaching, the substitution of in-school assessment for external examinations – the list of disastrous changes is endless.

The burden has fallen particularly heavily on head teachers as they have had to try to maintain standards of academic achievement and school order and discipline with little or no powers to do anything about them.

The latest wheeze of the reformers, now being seriously considered by Perth and Kinross Council, is to include pupils in the interviewing process for prospective head teachers.

Can you imagine? George K McMillan by email