Plans to make it easier for head teachers in England to sack underperforming staff are to go ahead from September, the government says.

It says poor teachers could be removed within a term instead of a year, which can be the case at present.

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, says schools have been “tangled in red tape” for too long when dealing with struggling staff and in straightforward cases, the process could now be completed in weeks.

There will also be a requirement for teachers to be assessed every year on whether they meet new standards, which cover teaching and “personal and professional conduct”.

The government is also consulting on proposals that it says would deal with the problem of poor teachers being moved on from school to school.

This would mean that if a school made inquiries about a teacher it was thinking of hiring, previous employers would have to say, if asked, whether he or she had been through what are known as “capability procedures”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Breakfast programme, Mr Gove said that the planned process “only kicks in when it’s clear that there are problems”.

Source: BBC News
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