Calls to revive scheme that paid teachers extra to boost their skills

JODY HARRISON

of something akin to the chartered teacher scheme is considered to ensure classroom teachers feel valued and have increased motivation to keep teaching.”

The committee, which canvassed the views of hundreds of teachers, was surprised by how many praised the chartered teacher scheme, which sought to boost the pay of those who chose to stay in the classroom but committed to extra study and improving their skills.

This groundswell of support led to the view that “the introduction of some means of financially rewarding experienced teachers in the classroom could improve retention”.

The original scheme’s abolition had “removed the ability of schools to give financial rewards to, and therefore increase the chances of retaining, staff who are valued classroom teachers of considerable experience”.

The move has been welcomed by the EIS teaching union. General secretary Larry Flanagan said: “It is ironic the report advocates the introduction of ‘something akin to the chartered teacher scheme’, when it was the Scottish Government that closed that highly-regarded and world-leading scheme.”

The report notes, however, that Jim Thewliss, general secretary of School Leaders Scotland, which represents head teachers, told the committee the chartered teacher scheme “fell by the wayside because it did not fulfil the function it was intended to fulfil in the first place, which was to recognise, reward and promote the use of good practice in the school”.

The top of the chartered teacher pay scale is £43,845 – chartered teachers could retain higher salaries after the end of the scheme – compared with £35,763 at the top of the main-grade teacher scale.

Mr Thewliss said the scheme “became an exercise that teachers went through to get themselves more pay”.

Teacher recruitment has become a long running problem in Scotland.

It was reported recently there were nearly 700 unfilled posts at the start of the school year, across primary and secondary schools.

June’s long-awaited education governance review called for Singapore-style career progression – where there are various career paths for teachers and more steps along the way than in Scotland – while the possibility of fast-track teacher-training programme Teach First arriving north of the Border has stoked up much controversy.

Mr Flanagan welcomed the report’s support for better salaries and career pathways, but warned that recommendations about lowering “overly restrictive” entry standards to teaching and allowing greater “flexibility” in recruiting from outside Scotland were “worrying” and “do not sit well with the need to maintain high standards”.

Education Secretary John Swinney said he would “study carefully” the report’s recommendations, and welcomed its “endorsement of the action this Government is already taking to make a career in teaching more attractive and create innovative routes into the profession”.

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