§ 14. Sir J. Gilmourasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many teachers in Scotland has so far failed to re-register with the General Teaching Council.
§ 41. Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action the Government now intends to take to deal with the situation resulting from the failure of teachers to register or reregister with the General Teaching Council.
§ Mr. RossI have nothing to add to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on 21st May to the hon. Member for Perth and East Perthshire (Mr. MacArthur) except that, according to the announcement of the General Teaching Council on 10th June, 45,270 teachers had by then registered for the year starting on 1st April.—[Vol. 784, c. 85–6.]
§ Sir J. GilmourDoes not this mean that many thousands of teachers have failed to re-register, and that the Secretary of State should therefore take urgent steps to reinstate those teachers who have been dismissed for failure to register?
§ Mr. RossIt does not follow that these teachers are teachers who are presently teaching in schools. It is to find exactly what the position is that we have undertaken to make inquiries of the education authorities.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneHow does the Secretary of State justify the situation that teachers who failed to register last year were sacked and are being denied unemployment pay, whereas teachers who have committed the same technical offence this year are being treated totally differently?
§ Mr. RossThe hon. Gentleman should appreciate that the law remains the same, and registration is the proper indication of the qualification of a teacher. That is the law, and that remains the law.
§ Mr. MacArthurWhat information has the right hon. Gentleman so far received from local education authorities on the number of teachers actually in teaching posts who have not registered? Second, does he not agree that recent events have emphasised the need to simplify the re-registration procedure?
§ Mr. RossYes, I may well agree with the hon. Gentleman's final comment. We do not know the actual numbers involved in the schools at the present time, and this is what we are seeking to find out. A statement on this has been made by my hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
§ Mr. LawsonIf teachers in Scotland persist in showing their hostility to the General Teaching Council, will my right hon. Friend take urgent steps to scrap the Council altogether and restore the previous position?
§ Mr. RossMore than 45,000 teachers have shown by their registration that they want the Council. The minority is a very small one, and I hope that before long the minority will be completely negligible. The hon. Gentleman should face the fact that this House passed the 1438 Bill enacting this procedure and there was no vote against it. It was in accordance with the wishes of all sections of the teaching profession that we acceded to the request to legislate.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneIn view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg leave to give notice that I will raise the matter again at the earliest opportunity.