HEADTEACHERS will have to attain new qualifications as part of a package of measures designed to drive up the quality of Scottish education.
Education Secretary John Swinney said the change would ensure schools had “highly skilled empowered leaders” who would “help ensure the highest quality of learning and teaching”.
The announcement follows Scotland’s worst performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) rankings last week, with performance in reading, maths and science declining in comparison to other developed countries. Scotland had been ranked above average for reading and science in the 2012 table and was average in maths, but the 2015 results showed it is now about average for all three subjects.
The Scottish Government has announced that regulations to introduce mandatory qualifications for headteachers will be published today, the same day that a consultation gets under way.
If the move is approved, new head teachers will have to gain a Standard of Headship award – being developed by the General Teaching Council for Scotland – before taking on such a position, with the change due to come in in August 2019.
It will not be made retrospective, so headteachers who are already doing the job will not be affected.
Mr Swinney said the new qualification would also ensure heads have the “leadership skills and support they need to grasp the opportunities of increased devolution in education”.
This was a reference to the Scottish Government’s desire to hand more power, control and financial resource to individual schools, stripping power from local education authorities.
The Education Secretary said: “Effective leadership is one of the most important aspects of the success of any school. Highly skilled, empowered leaders will help ensure the highest quality of learning and teaching, which makes a direct difference to young people and society.”
He added: “At the same time, our proposed changes will give education authorities flexibility to deal with any individual local circumstances, particularly in relation to temporary appointments.”
However, the Scottish Government’s claims that it is taking action to stop Scotland’s slide down the world education rankings were undermined yesterday by a warning from council chiefs that plans to tackle the “catastrophic attainment gap” are in disarray.
Leaders from the Scottish Local Government Partnership said they had yet to receive any detail on how the Scottish Government intends to implement its flagship education policies.
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