Teachers condemn ‘weak’ school governors

The NASUWTsaid while extensive autonomy which has been heaped on them by the coalition government, many school governors fail to discharge their responsibilities.

The union was responding to a new report from the Common Education Select Committee on the role of school governing bodies.

Committee chair Graham Stuart MP said:

"Greater freedoms for schools mean we need more effective governing bodies. At the moment, the quality of governance in many schools is inadequate.

“Accordingly, we are recommending a series of measures to boost governors’ performance.

“These include introducing professional clerks, whose status should be similar to a company secretary. We also want to see greater training for governors – schools should be required to offer this to every new governor.”

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:

"It should be of deep concern to parents and the public that there are such serious weaknesses in school governance, given the extensive autonomy which has been heaped on them by the coalition Government.

"Governors are well meaning volunteers who now have control over millions of pounds of taxpayers' money and public assets, the school workforce and the life chances of children and young people.

"In this context these recommendations seem weak and will make little contribution to protecting the public interest. They may even compound the problems rather than resolve them.”

Ms Keates said in a recent survey conducted by the NASUWTof over 14,000 teachers, 93% said that they believe that governors should undertake mandatory training and 81% of teachers said that they believe governors should be subject to external scrutiny.