Edinburgh Sucks! | Scots teachers brand executive measures a failure

Jack McConnell

Scots teachers brand executive measures a failure

By The Basa ⋅ May 8, 2005 ⋅

Useless First Minister The dozens of government initiatives brought in by the Scottish Executive over the past 4 years to combat classroom voilence and disruption have been branded a huge failure today by Scottish teachers. The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is asking it’s 5,000 members to help find an answer to the crisis.

The GTCS, the teachers’ watchdog, believes its members have lost faith in the Better Behaviour Better Learning strategy launched by the then education minister, Jack McConnell, in 2001.

Despite strategy funding of around £10m a year, a GTCS working group says behaviour is not improving.

“We are talking about kids who cannot behave and the Executive is talking about school uniforms. Something is going to have to happen about this before we are plunged into chaos.”

“A member of staff is assaulted every 12 minutes of the school day and still the Labour-Lib Dem coalition refuses to give teachers control of the classroom and the right to exclude disruptive pupils.”

It is frightening that the one person who has been involved in this from the beginning Jack McConnell, firstly as Education Minister then as First Minister just keeps on getting it wrong. It is also interesting to note that current Education Minister Peter Peacock has kept his head low on this subject. So that is now £10m a year for 4 years = £40m down the drain - and GTCS have to pay another £20,000 to pay for their own survey.

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