By
Mail On Sunday Reporter
Last updated at 12:50 AM on 8th January 2012
Companies employing part-time school inspectors have been criticised for failing to recruit enough serving teachers.
Only one in ten taken on by private firms to visit schools fits that criteria.
The most recent figures show that of the 2,300 inspectors in England and Wales, just 300 are employed directly by Ofsted and given the title HM Inspector. The rest are recruited by three private firms.
Headteachers have complained that they do not have confidence in inspections by part-timers
Head teachers have complained that they do not have confidence in inspections by the part-timers employed by the private firms as they are out of touch with current education working practices.
Schools are often left unhappy with inspections
Now concerns about their teaching experience have been raised by Graham Stuart, who chairs the Commons’ Education Committee.
The MP said: ‘The recent frontline experience of inspectors is too little. The firms need to do more to ensure they don’t have people who haven’t taught on the frontline for 20 years or more, or in some cases never at all.’
Lesley Gannon, of the National Association of Head Teachers, says that inspectors working for the private companies are ‘inconsistent’ and often leave schools feeling unhappy with the way probes have been carried out.
The private companies used by Ofsted are Tribal Group, Serco and CfBT Education Trust. Over the past three years the cost to the taxpayer has been £126 million.
Ofsted said: ‘Feedback from schools shows no difference in satisfaction levels between inspections led by HMI and those by additional inspectors.’
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HMI used to be Her Majesty’s Inspectors – independent, respected, the best of the best who were welcomed into schools and who took a real interest in teachers and children. Now we have Ofsted – an expensive, feared, overblown arm of the failed government culture of tyranny through targets. Our education system will never prosper as it should so long as this bunch are around.
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So school inspectors recruited by the private sector are worse than than those recruited who are already in the public sector. I’m very surprised the DM is running this item!
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