GTC initial comment on Maurice Smith review

last updated:12 Mar 2010

As the regulator of the teaching profession it is our role fairly and thoroughly to investigate allegations of misconduct including racist behaviour.  We have dealt with nine such cases and the most serious led to the teachers (three cases) being banned from teaching. 

We will work with partners to see what further guidance might be valuable for teachers and schools in helping them combat racism even more effectively. The issue of political party membership is for Parliament to determine, not the GTC, which must operate within the existing legal frameworks governing teacher employment.

For information, the nine cases resulted in the following range of sanctions:  three prohibition orders, three conditional registration orders, one suspension order and two reprimands. The full report can be downloaded from the Maurice Smith Review website.