john eden said:
Be interesting to know if any of the Dissensus teaching massif have any insights into this issue?
hello!
right, there are a number of issues (as always) involved here, but before that i just want to say that anything that speeds up the resignation of ms kelly is to be welcomed.
there are two lists related to this, the sex offenders register (controlled by the police) and list 99 (education depts own list of banned individuals). you can be on the former, without being on the latter- as this case highlights.
therefore there are issues of beaurocracy (sp?) and how different departments talk to each other (a general problem with new labour, who like eye catching policies but don't think about implementation).
anyway, you can be put on the sex offenders register without being found guilty of anything and the 'offense' does not have to be sexual- as john pointed out, drunkenly pissing in a back alley could get you a place on the list. accepting a police caution for such behaviour would also get you on the list (although it seems that this is rarely made clear by the police).
so, the sex offenders register is a very blunt tool (fnarr) to use when deciding whether or not someone is fit to teach: list 99 should be used imo, but this also raises issues as the people who decide who goes on that list are politicians, so they may be influenced by other factors such as the daily mail/notw etc, therefore leading to a whole host of other problems.
finally, in order to work with children under 16 you need to undergo a CRB (criminal records bureau) check-run by capita- costing £15.00 a time (i think). now you would think this would link directly to list 99 (eg: that shows all those people who it has been decided are unfit to work with children), but instead it links to the sex offenders register.
basically the system is a mess, with different lists and checks being taken, not one of them being definitive.
however, on the bright side at least capita (profit last year estimated to be over £150m) are making a bit of cash out of others suffering.