Teachers: 11 Not Banned Despite 'Misconduct'

[Jazzy]

Head teachers say they are worried about people being allowed to apply for jobs in classrooms despite serious misconduct with children, including kissing and undressing in front of them.

Sky News has discovered that in the last year alone the Education Secretary Michael Gove has allowed 11 male teachers to keep their professional status after they admitted or were found guilty of inappropriate behaviour with children.

The National Association of Head Teachers said heads are "really worried about this situation" and the union is investigating.

The 11 teachers were all judged by the professional conduct panel that decided not to strike off RE teacher Geoffrey Bettley after he was cautioned for having child abuse images on his computer.

The decisions were rubber stamped by Mr Gove, whose department then wrote to the teachers informing them they were not being struck off the teachers' register.

One of them, a 65-year-old maths teacher, was investigated by police after developing an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

He was not banned from teaching because the panel heard he "was seeking closure on this irrational episode in his life".

Three of the 11 teachers kissed pupils, one on the lips, in a case the panel said was an abuse of the position of trust which it deplored.

In that case the panel said it "looked to the future" and advised the Education Secretary not to ban him from teaching despite finding he had "attempted to hide matters from those who were investigating the case".

One teacher undressed in front of a girl at a boarding school, while another kissed a Year 11 pupil after inviting her to meet him in a country lane.

Vicki Shotbolt, founder of The Parent Zone and board member on the UK Council on Child Internet Safety, said the cases were "really worrying".

"I don't think there's a parent in the country who would feel comfortable having their children taught by a teacher who's been involved in one of these cases."

Source

Do you think these teachers should have been banned from teaching? Why or why not?

 

[Evil Eye]

:that:

These don't really sound like the sort of people I'd want teaching kids.