EB 26
National Assembly for Wales
Children and Young People Committee
Education (Wales) Bill : Stage 1
Response from : NAHT Cymru
- NAHT is an
independent trade union and professional association representing
more than 28,500 members in Wales, England and Northern
Ireland. Members hold leadership positions in virtually every
special school, 85 per cent of primary schools and more than 40 per
cent of secondary schools, as well as many early years providers,
independent schools, sixth form and FE colleges, outdoor education
centres, pupil referral units, social services establishments and
other educational settings.
- Thank you for
inviting us to submit evidence to the Children and Young People
Committee on the Education (Wales) Bill. We look forward to
discussing these matters further during our oral evidence
session.
- NAHT has always
supported the existence of an independent professional body
to represent and reflect the teaching profession in Wales.
- The education
workforce has changed and expanded markedly in the years since the
GTCW was originally formed; we are pleased that the proposed
Council recognises this. The proposed expansion in those required
to register to the new Council to include FE teachers, and school
and FE support staff will mean a far greater and more complex
registration process. We think that this development should be
carefully managed to make sure that each element is securely in
place before moving on to the next.
- In disciplinary
cases, we believe that each sector of membership should be heard by
their peers.
- We are not persuaded
that Welsh Ministers have a role in preparing and publishing a Code
of Conduct 24(1). We do not believe it is the role of
Government to
draft a Code of Conduct for members of an independent professional
body. This should be the responsibility of the Council itself in
consultation with the profession it seeks to regulate and
represent.
- Clause
26.3(c) is welcome.
- We welcome the
provisions in Part 3. The explanatory memorandum reflects
members’ own experience in navigating the complexities of the
current system and agree that these must be resolved.
- We have long argued
that a standardisation of term dates is desirable and regret that
legislation has proved necessary to effect this. Committee members
may also like to be aware that NAHT has long argued that the
current three-term school-year pattern should be revisited.
- In order to command
the respect of the professionals it seeks to regulate,
the new body will need to be demonstrably independent.
We are not persuaded that the membership of the Council as
laid out in Schedule 1 is at all helpful here.
- We look forward to a
further consultation on the detail of the fee arrangements. Member
response to this is again likely to be coloured by their view of
the emerging new body. Its independence, its credibility with the
profession will in large part determine how members perceive the
fee. Some school leaders have indicated that they would be prepared
to pay a fee for membership of a professional body for which they
could have respect; they would not be happy to pay if they doubted
its independence and felt unrepresented by it. Being required to
pay a registration fee as a condition of employment to a body
perceived to be a quango would not be acceptable.