Your editorial about England’s General Teaching Council (“Not even worth a penny a day?”, TES, January 27) will have struck a chord with the vast majority of teachers. The GTC was set up to raise standards in teaching and support teachers in their jobs. Has it done either?
Reports in the TES week in, week out, suggest the GTC’s sole function is very negative: to discipline a tiny percentage of unsatisfactory teachers.
I wrote to the council two years ago pointing out this image problem in the media; I have yet to receive a reply.
So just what is the GTC’s role, and what does it do to justify the fees we are obliged to pay?
Bob Forster
10, Tothill, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxon