THE GOVERNMENT should be congratulated for its plan to scrap the absurd system for appointing secondary schools teachers that has been in place for decades and which political parties were afraid to touch. We refer to the criminally irrational system by which any university graduate is eligible to be appointed a secondary school teacher in their subject as long as they put their name on a register and waited their turn to come.
There were no interviews, no exams and until a few years ago no teacher training for the graduates. All that was required of them to be allowed into a classroom was a Bachelors degree and patience because for some subjects the waiting time could have been more than 20 years. Every lazy, unmotivated, indifferent graduate, whose only interest was an undemanding working life with short hours and long holidays, became a teacher thanks to this non-discriminating system.
These people, who received no teacher training and could have been working in an unrelated field for 20 years, were entrusted with educating teenagers. And as the House heard this week, most were appointed, past their best, some at 40 and others at 50. Once they were given a job, they were on trial for two years, after which they would be permanently appointment, as long as their work was deemed satisfactory. It goes without saying that nobody was rejected; for those who were no good, the trial period was extended and they were eventually given permanent jobs.
It is this appalling system which rewards the mediocre and lazy that the government hopes to put an end to. The fact that it was allowed to operate for so long was criminal, but it had the support of the teachers’ unions, for whom rewarding excellence is anathema. It is therefore not surprising that both primary and secondary teaching union have voiced opposition to the government’s plans.
The arguments used against the plan defy belief. The secondary teachers’ union OELMEK said that exams were not a satisfactory way of judging whether a candidate was good or not. “Who can be judged through a written exam whether they are capable or not,” asked a union official. The thinking is quite astonishing – as the exams have some weaknesses, it is preferable to appoint everyone who applies, including the laziest and most incompetent candidates.
This is how much faith our teachers have in promoting excellence. And then we wonder why half the state school children fail their finals and score so badly in international exams. It is entirely down to bad teaching, which has been promoted and protected by the waiting-list system, which teaching unions want to keep in place. Children should just accept that they will receive a lousy education, because this is what suits teaching unions.
