ONE in seven private school teachers in Scotland is not registered to teach with the general teaching council.

ONE in seven private school teachers in Scotland is not registered to teach with the general teaching council.

Scotland's teaching regulators, the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS), have called for a change in the law after it emerged unregistered private school staff cannot be suspended from work, even if they have a history of child abuse.

More than 400 members of staff have failed to register to teach in Scotland - denying the GTCS the chance to inspect their work.

This means they cannot be banned from teaching in schools for reasons ranging from incompetence to having a criminal record or abusing children.

Currently the GTCS has the power to summon registered teachers to a disciplinary panel which can suspend them or even strike them off the register - banning them from working in any classroom in Britain.

Tony Finn, GTCS chief executive, said they had been trying to have private sector teachers register with the organisation. He said: "Registration is important for maintaining standards in the classroom and the vast majority of private sector teachers recognise this. However, more needs to be done."

Currently, under the 1980 Education Act only state school teachers must register. This means, unlike in other private sectors, such as medicine or law, private teachers can work while unqualified or unregistered.

In response to a petition by the GTCS on the loophole, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We fully support the work of the GTCS to further increase the levels of registration, but have no plans to make this a legislative requirement at this time."