Background checks on supply teachers from overseas lack consistency

New research highlights concerns over minimum checks needed to ensure childrenís safety ahead of new school term

Fifty three per cent of education recruitment agencies questioned in a survey say that minimum legal requirements governing teacher background checks for recruiting candidates from overseas should be clarified and enhanced.

The survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the professional body for recruiters, is based on detailed feedback from specialised recruitment agencies in the education sector.

Commenting on the survey findings, John Dunn, Chair of the RECís Education Sector Group, says: ìProfessional recruiters in the education sector have welcomed the increasing focus on safe recruitment since last Juneís OFSTED report and have been actively involved in the Governmentís consultation on the new vetting & barring scheme.

ìHowever, it is essential to ensure that mechanisms are also in place for effectively checking the suitability of overseas nationals coming to work in the UK. The Government is aware of this issue and ongoing initiatives ñ for example aimed at enhancing the exchange of criminal records information between EU countries ñ must deliver in order to alleviate some of the concerns highlighted in the surveyî.

On a general note, the REC survey confirms that more needs to be done to restore public confidence in teacher background checks. Government-backed initiatives such as the Quality Mark (which now comes within the remit of the recently formed Department for Children, Schools and Families) are already playing a key role in monitoring the performance and standards of supply teacher agencies.

The aim is to ensure that awareness of such schemes continues to grow and that there is consistency in the standards applied by both public and private sector suppliers:

Commenting on this, John Dunn concludes: ìAs well as developing more effective and streamlined measures for vetting staff, it is crucial to ensure that these vetting procedures are consistently and effectively implemented by all organisations responsible for placing teaching staff into schools.

ìWith a new school year upon us, it is vital that both public and private sector suppliers continue to demonstrate the highest standards and actively support initiatives such as the Quality Mark in order to enhance public confidence and ensure safe recruitment into our schoolsî.

Other key findings from the survey include:

ï Limited awareness among schools ñ 62 per cent of recruitment agencies think that schools do not know about the changes that the new Vetting and Barring scheme will bring next year

ï Public confidence levels low ñ 75 per cent said more needs to be done to restore public confidence in teacher background checks

ï OFSTED report recommendations welcome ñ 47 per cent think that the recommendations made in the OFSTED report last June will have a positive effect on recruitment in education. This report on safeguarding children highlighted the need for more awareness within schools on the status of individual checks and for better communication between schools and supply teacher agencies.