Teachers Licence - Whatever Rubbish will Ed Balls Think of Next?

I’m genuinely sorry to have to use dirty words again in one of my blogs, but how can Ed Balls have the audacity to propose that all teachers must obtain a teaching licence every five years to show that they are competent to do their job? Surely if the colleges and universities have done their jobs properly then the students they turn out will be competent to do their jobs? Maybe he is admitting that after 5 years of government dictats some teachers are so worn to a frazzle that they are in dire need of help! This help should not come in the form of testing for competence, but rather a vast diminution of rules and regulations and paperwork which all teachers have to face in this present age.

Let’s look at the basis for suggesting this wonderful new scheme. According to Mr Balls this renewable licence "would apply to all new teachers starting from next year, and would bring teaching in line with other high status professions such as doctors and lawyers by making it a “masters’ level” occupation." Does this mean that doctors and lawyers are already subject to the same renewable licence? I was not aware of this. I think it is just Mr Ball’s rhetoric. Then there is the qualifying phrase – “from next year.” If the aim of this 5 years teaching licence is to weed out the weak teachers (as I have seen it stated in print) how are those weak teachers already in the system going to be weeded out?

I would suggest to Mr Balls that he would do far better by trying to solve this problem at source. Weak teachers do not become weak teachers after a few years in the profession. They are weak teachers from the word go. It is the problem of the individual college or university. This is where the weak teachers should be sorted out – before they are allowed to gain entry into the profession.

Even before Mr Balls sets up the systems whereby the 5 year teaching licence comes into operation I suggest that he and his Westminster cronies would do well to lead by example.

How about a 5 years renewable licence for MP’s with tests to show if they are “fit for purpose?”

In this test there could be such questions as:-

How well has your MP served you during the past five years?
Do you think your MP has given value for money?
Does your MP represent you or his/her party?
Do his/her expenses stand up to scrutiny? (At the present moment in time it is reckoned that 215 current MP’s would fail on this question alone!)

Then there would be the inevitable feedback, with headings such as:-

Things you have done well.
Things you can improve on.

Your overall grade as an MP suitable to continue in your profession is………

or the dreaded:-

You have failed to achieve the necessary standard and as such you are no longer deemed competent to be an MP. Your licence to practice is withdrawn forthwith.

With threats like this hanging over the MP's I feel sure it would vastly improve their performance and greatly focus their minds on their job!