Teachers may have to pay fees and study in spare time to become heads of schools
HEADTEACHERS will be forced to complete a tough new qualification as part of a drive to improve the classroom performance of Scotland’s poorest school pupils, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The First Minister, who yesterday visited a school in London where attainment has risen dramatically in recent years, said that the move to make a Masters course compulsory within four years for all new heads would improve leadership.
The move was broadly welcomed, although concern was raised after it emerged that teachers may have to study for the masters qualification in holiday periods and pay a contribution to the course themselves.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I want all schools to be led by the best qualified people who are ready to take on the role as headteacher. Strong leadership and the best teachers are a fundamental part of improving attainment and achievement for children and young people.
“Last year, we established the independent Scottish College for Educational Leadership which is working to develop the new masters qualification for Headship in Scotland. Teachers will be able to take the qualification from August this year and we will make it a legal requirement that from the end of the four year Attainment Challenge period all new headteachers must hold this masters qualification.”
The First Minister said a further £1 million would be spent on creating opportunities for classroom teachers to learn at Masters level, after £3 million was spent in recent years on courses for around 2,000 school staff. She had pledged to learn lessons from the London Challenge, a New Labour program that has been credited with turning around schools in some of the most deprived parts of the city.
The Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) said there was a serious lack of applicants for headships currently, and that it hoped the new qualification would give candidates the confidence to apply for leadership positions.
However, it warned that the new policy should not “add to the barriers for those seeking headship”.
The Scottish Government said the course would be completed over 18 months while candidates work full time, and that while the details have not been finalised, applicants may be charged.
In England, teachers must typically pay around £2,500 for the National Professional Qualification for Headship. The course was compulsory, although the requirement was scrapped under the coalition Government as part of a drive to give schools more autonomy.
Greg Dempster, AHDS General Secretary, said: “Our early concerns are focussed on suggestions that blocks of these qualifications would be undertaken during school holiday periods and would potentially be self or part funded by candidates.
“This gives the wrong message in that it suggests that to be a school leader you need to give up your holiday time and your own money.”
Meanwhile, Labour leader Jim Murphy unveiled further details of his own plan to raise standards among children from deprived communities, with education becoming a key battleground between Scotland’s two largest parties.
The party said it was a “moral scandal” that the poorest children were often left behind, and promised to bring in legal targets if it wins power in 2016. It has said that it wants to close the attainment gap between the richest and poorest children by 2025 with the help of an extra £125m of funding over the course of the next parliament.