Created on: 23 Apr 2007 | Last modified: 23 Apr 2020
Do you know that it is EIS-FELA policy that all lecturers employed in Further Education are teacher trained and registered with the GTC(S)?
Do you know why the EIS-FELA has this policy? The EIS-FELA is committed to maintaining and enhancing the quality of educational provision in the further education sector and believes the most effective means of doing so is through a professional body. The EIS-FELA believes FE lecturers, like school colleagues, deserve a voice and advocate for the profession and that the GTC(S) is well placed to be that voice.
Do you know the Minister for Lifelong Learning recently decided to approve recommendations to:
Increase the number of lecturers that are teacher trained and that soon all permanent full-time lecturers will be required to gain a teaching qualification within 3 years of appointment and permanent part-time lecturers within 5 years;
Require temporary lecturers with contracts of at least an academic year to complete the PDA “Introduction to Teaching in Further Education”;
Require temporary lecturers contracted to more than one College or employed for less than an academic year but teaching a total of 36 or more hours of class contact to also complete the “Introduction to Teaching in Further Education”;
Require all lecturers to undertake a minimum amount of CPD.
Do you know the Staffing and Learning Environments Working Group of the Review of Scotland’s Colleges is charged with bringing forward concrete recommendations to ensure the above Ministerial requirements are introduced within a reasonable timescale, identifying any cost implications?
Do you know a new PDA is soon to be introduced to assist the School/College partnership initiative and FE lecturers engaged in teaching 14-16 year olds in College? The PDA “Teaching Children and Young People” could become a mandatory requirement for FE lecturers teaching on the School/College partnership programme?
Do you know it is the policy of the GTC(S) and of the EIS that all FE lecturers teaching children on the school roll should hold an appropriate qualification (TQ(FE) or equivalent) and should be registered with GTC(S)?
It is therefore more essential than ever that FE lecturing staff are registered with the GTC(S), thereby establishing the GTC(S) as the professional body of choice of Scotland’s College lecturing profession.
Do you know GTC(S) offers 3 categories of registration:
Full Registration
Provisional Registration
Provisional Conditional Registration
Do you know that Full Registration is available for experienced lecturers who hold a TQ(FE) or equivalent and who have completed a period of satisfactory and relevant teaching/lecturing service in the further education sector?
Do you know that Provisional Registration is available for FE lecturers who have successfully completed a TQ(FE) programme and who have yet to complete a period of relevant teaching/lecturing service in the further education sector?
Do you know that Provisional (Conditional) Registration is available for FE lecturers who have embarked upon a TQ(FE) programme, with the condition that, except in exceptional circumstances, they successfully complete the TQ(FE) within a 3 year period?
Do you know initial registration with GTC(S) costs as little as £65 and reduces to £50 for each year thereafter. Registration details are available from the GTC(S) website www.gtcs.org.uk email registration@gtcs.org.uk or alternatively write to the Registration Department, GTC(S), Clerwood House, 90 Clermiston Road, Edinburgh EH12 6UT.
If the EIS can demonstrate that the majority of Scotland’s lecturers choose to voluntarily register with the GTC(S) it can argue more easily for GTC(S)’s statutory remit to be extended, making it also the professional and regulatory body for the further education lecturing profession in Scotland.